My Calling: Second Cycle
by Cornell Valentine Gainsborough
Summary: One young demon simply wanted freedom. He got a lot more than what he expected.
1. Chapter 1

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

A/N: I'll admit, I've been in something of a creative funk as of late. Most new ideas I've been trying to come up with have crashed and burned, updating Soul Cradle: Reinvented is much harder due to the fact I can't access the site with the Let's Play script, and I've been feeling a real need to reinvent myself. Hopefully, this overhaul of my first story will help me do that.

For the most part, if you've read the previous edition of this story, you'll know what to expect, but there are several changes here and there; not just extended scenes, but some things have been revamped altogether.

Originally, this was supposed to be something of a spoof of the New Game Plus feature, a non-canonical story taking place after my third story. Maybe if I can get enough motivation, I'll try to write it out and see what I manage to come up with, but don't expect any big promises.

Disclaimer: Disgaea and related characters are property of Nippon Ichi. Nelius, Brad and other related OC's are property of my friend and myself. The rating for the story is largely for language.

Chapter 1: The Departure

Nelius' Journal Log: August 17, 33XX

_Normally I'm a patient guy with most people, but ever since that investigation three years back, she's pushed me past my limit._

_I don't understand why the Overlord's been acting like such a bitch, but this change in attitude has gome on for too long. She's been basically lazing around the castle and barking out orders while most of the vassals are the only ones actually getting anything done. I am not taking this shit anymore. _

_Out of all the plans I've come up with, the third option falls perfectly in with what's going to be happening. _

_Soon, Sirea's going to be heading for that meeting in another Netherworld. While she's gone and security's lax, I can use that as my chance to get the hell out of this place. After grabbing some provisions out of the storeroom and taking some of my personal stuff with me, I'll head for the Eastern Dimension Port. I can sneak aboard one of the vessels there and escape this hellhole. I'd like to bring some of the others along with me, but they might end up blabbing about it, and that's a risk not worth taking. Sorry, guys, nothing personal._

_Dad, how you managed to survive working under her, I will never know. _

**Castle Sirea**

"Attention, all vassals. Get off of your lazy asses and report to the Throne Room for an important announcement." A vassal of the Overlord was going up and down the hall, shouting the message. From the tone of his voice, and from the utterly bored expression on his face, he'd been doing this for a long time. "If you miss this, it's your own damn fault."

A young, brown-haired demon closed his journal, slipping it underneath a secret panel before standing up and heading out of his room. He was quickly joined by other vassals who were heading for the same place he was.

'_Let's go see what Queen Bitch wants this time_.'

Taking a right, the young demon called Nelius headed for the Throne Room, where the Overlord of this Netherworld sat upon her throne, as if that wasn't obvious enough. He knew that attendance of these announcements was mandatory to his plan, so he wouldn't cause anyone to suspect that he was up to something. All he had to do was play along, then wait for the perfect moment to spring into action.

The Overlord of this realm was female, a rather rare occurance, but the number of female Overlords was already rising in other Netherworlds, especially those who had aspirations to become the next Pram, Salome or Priere. (Etna doesn't count, she's not an Overlord, no matter what she tells you.) Many of this Overlord's vassals held a recurring joke among themselves that she was a near copy of Overlord Priere, maybe her long lost twin. Of course, nobody ever said that when she was within earshot, with good reason. The last vassal who said that joke out loud.... well, let's just say he cannot move around without assistance anymore.

"All right, down to business." Hell, change her blue hair to red, make her about three or five inches taller and place a baton in her hand, and you would practically have Overlord Priere standing right in front of you. "As most of you know, I'm leaving for the Interdimensional Meeting being held in Priere's Netherworld." A few of the vassals had to suppress a good laugh, in memory of the above mentioned joke, Nelius included. "Cera, I'm leaving matters here up to you, until I get back." Most of the vassals let out a low groan, and some had to cancel their plans. The moment the mentioned demoness' weapon hit the ground, everyone shut up, and with good reason.

Cera was the Overlord's militiant officer, and second in command while the Overlord, Sirea, was away from the castle. This proud Samurai demoness, once having worked for the previous Overlord, was rather infamous for her advanced levels of strictness, especially when it came to completing tasks around the castle and getting the vassals on the battlefield motivated to fight. One of her personal hobbies was whacking people's backsides with her modified Heavy Sword, already having sent two others to the Hosptal with cracked spinal columns months earlier.

Speaking of those two, Eylssa the Gunslinger and her brother-in-arms Russel the Ranger, the both of them just got out of the Hospital with a clean bill of health when they heard that announcement. Looking to each other, they grimly nodded, then promptly re-cracked each others' spines (and utterly wrecked a few other bones and major organs for good measure) before crawling back in. Hospital bill be damned, they were not working while Cera was in charge.

'_Shit! This I was not expecting_.' His yellow eyes were focused on the Army officer. '_Guess I'll have to modify the plan some_.'

**Five minutes later...**

So begins the torture. The moment Sirea headed through the Dimension Gate, hell personified descended upon the castle, and her name was Cera.

"Walk faster! Keep yourself straight! Watch what you're doing!" With each of those commands, she swung that Heavy Sword around, not giving two shits about whoever or whatever got in her way. As a point of reference, two people almost had their heads whacked off, and three others would need to see the chiropractor if they wanted to walk straight ever again.

'_Someone really needs to tell her this ain't the military or the battlefield_.' Nelius thought to himself as he ducked under the swing of the blade. '_Hell, she might actually be more of a pain than Queen Bitch herself_.'

For her age, Cera had hearing that could detect an insult from several miles away, and mind you, that was no exaggeration. One time in the past, she'd been on the other side of the castle, heard a derogatorial comment about her, and made a mad dash straight for the insulter. If not for the fact that the insulter in question was female, she might've killed her on the spot. On second thought, would it really have mattered? Just be glad she lacked the ability to read minds, otherwise Sirea would have to start recruiting again.

'_Still, there has to be some way to keep her distracted..._' As he was forced to work and dodge out of the way of the Heavy Sword's path, he found himself wishing for some kind of distraction. '_Come on, need something to keep her occupied... for at least five minutes..._'

Lo and behold, his wish was granted; his distraction came in the form of a large scale bandit group who previously made attempts to rob the Overlord whenever she was out. Though it was Cera's entourage who drove them off time and time again, the group was fairly persistant, having large numbers in place of strength, integrating other groups of thieves. On an additional note, they were the rare kind who learned from where their previous attempts went wrong, and as such had a brand new plan of attack. As they swarmed the castle and made their usual entrance (which involved something illegal, and all I'll say is "Knock, knock, bitches!!"), Nelius saw his chance to put his escape plan into action. The first part of said plan was to get some supplies, and so he made his way to the storeroom in the midst of the confusion, where a few bandits were trying to grab a free bite to eat.

Sneaking up behind one who was about to dig into a bag of chips ("Hey, my favorites!"), he reared his bare fist back and let it fly, hearing a crunch of bone as his confirmation that this bandit wouldn't be taking any food. As soon as they heard the skull of their comrade crunch, two more bandits who were trying to grab some other items headed for the young demon, who swiftly took care of them via a pair of well-aimed kicks to their respective groins, and with this being the Netherworld, one kick's enough to incapacitate, and two will knock you out for a month, gender be damned. Once they were done for, Nelius noticed something odd sticking out of one of the bandit's belt. Upon inspecting it, he discovered there was a sack with a nice amount of Hell inside of it.

'_Sweet, free cash. I wonder if his friends got any more_.' He made his search, and was rewarded for the extra effort. Though, that third bandit hid his cash in the one place nobody would ever like to search; I'll leave it up to your imagination to figure that out. '_My dignity will never restore itself if this ever got out._' He immediately went to wash his hands... several times.

Remembering his original mission as another shout of orders was heard, he grabbed one of the bags normally reserved for long Item World trips and began to stuff all kinds of food and other supplies inside of it, mostly whatever it was he could get his hands on; as long as it was edible and didn't taste so horribly, he wouldn't care about what it was. As another wave of bandits descended upon the castle (they must've hit Cera's favorite room, he could hear her swearing loudly), Nelius dashed back to his room, stuffing traveling clothes, a pillow, blanket, and his journal into the confines of the bag; he didn't have much else worth taking along, since it was all mostly junk that the other vassals decided to get rid of. Hoisting his newly acquired travel bag over his back, it caught him off balance for a moment, but he righted himself.

Then.... silence. A disturbing calm settled over the castle under siege.

'_Cera must've cornered them all; it's too quiet_.' Nelius didn't like how quiet things became. If Cera cleaned them out this quickly, then... oh wait. The sound of an explosion rattled the castle. '_I spoke too soon. Looks like they still got some fight left_.' Confident that they could hold out, he ran over to the designated escape point, since the front gate was too obvious.

He made his way over to the back of the pantry, where an old back door constructed by the previous Overlord stood intact. Perhaps it had been used as either an escape tunnel or a way to sneak in some of the more.... illegal stuff that populated the Netherworld, the stuff that even the Assembly Senators wouldn't go near. Most likely it was the latter; he had heard stories from the older vassals about what the female Overlord's favorite side hobby had been.

Moving the shelf unit aside, he took one last look at his prison for the past three years as the battles continued. Not a single soul seemed to even notice, or care that he was leaving. Of course, when there's arrows, bullets and spells flying around, I doubt you'd be looking for just one person in particular.

'_Good bye, you rotten bitch of an Overlord, and here's hoping I'll never set foot in this dump again!_'

He swung the door open, moved the shelf unit back to its original place, and, after closing the door as to cover his tracks, made his way through an underground passage that lead him east. It was far cooler down here; that would make walking through this passage much more bearable. There were some monsters roosting down here, mostly Mothmen, Sabercats, and the occasional Mandragora plant, but they were content to simply sleep and let the young escapee get as far away from the castle as possible. It's surprising that the commotion in the castle didn't wake them up.

After traveling for what felt like several hours, due to the sack's weight, he eventually found the trap door that lead to the surface.

"I should've planned this out some more. Regardless, I can't stop now." Wiping some sweat from his brow, he grabbed one rung of the ladder and began climbing. After a good ten to fifteen minutes, mostly because the sack wanted to shift in every direction except one favorable to him, he reached the surface, pushing the door aside and climbing out. Said door was built into the side of a rock that had been artificially designed to look natural; more handiwork of Sirea's predecessor.

He couldn't tell exactly where it was he ended up, but he couldn't see the castle anywhere around, and that was good enough for him.

"Lemme see. The Dimension Port should be in this direction. Too bad I don't have a map."

He positioned himself eastward, and began walking. He had a long road ahead of himself, and if his plan was to go off without a hitch, he needed to make the best use of time, for there was no telling when his soon-to-be former boss would return.

**End of Chapter 1**

Until next Chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	2. Chapter 2

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 2: Three day Tour

Nelius Journal Log : August 18, 33XX

_Ah, now I see why it is freedom is placed highly on the scale of importance to demons and humans. I haven't experienced this kind of pleasant silence in a long time._

_Anyway, now that I'm no longer Sirea's little whipping demon, I don't care about what comes my way, so long as I never have to hear her bitch again. _

_Once I make it to the Dimension Port, I'll jump on board of one of the ships there and begin to explore other Netherworlds. Perhaps, once I'm out of here, I can find something else to my liking. And when I'm gone, I can sleep soundly, knowing Queen Bitch's whole place will crumble apart._

**Nelius Camp**

Nelius closed his Journal Log, placing it back inside of his sack of personal belongings. Resting against the side of a tree, he took in a deep breath; the smell of freedom.

Since yesterday, he had been traveling on foot, stopping only to make use of the food and drink in his bag, the occasional bathroom break (pocket hand sanitizer is your best friend here), and to get some sleep when nightfall descended. Though you could considered this his first official day outside of the castle, it actually was the second day he'd been travelling, and had already made good time.

Reaching for his pillow and blanket as it grew dark, he heard a rustling noise that was far too close for his personal comfort.

'_Now what was that?_' Whipping his head toward the sound, he cautiously reached his right hand into his bag and pulled out an old, black and gold gauntlet. Its appearance was sharp yet fierce, suggesting it had been used primarily for delivering blows that could easily smash anything in its path into a fine powder. On the armpiece there were intricate drawings that had no normal way of being described, but if a word could come close, it would be mesmerizing.

'_My old man's prized weapon, the old family heirloom, Shatter Gauntlet. It's old, but it's managed to hold up well_.' Placing it onto his left arm, it covered his left hand down to his elbow. Flexing his fingers to test for any rustiness (and delighted to see it was still in good condition), he stood up and walked over to the source of the sound. Parting the bushes aside with his free hand, what he saw made his blood turn colder than Joutenheim on a warm day.

Some strange creature stared back at him. This.... thing had no real shape at all, instead blending rather well with the shade of the plants, its eyes staring at him with a color indescribably chilling. Yet, in the back of his mind, Nelius could easily swear that he'd seen this creature somewhere once before.

"Nelius." It called to him in a calm, yet chipper voice that belied its appearance. "Long time no see, buddy."

"Huh?" To say that he was confused was coming up a bit short. "You know me?"

"Damn right I do. You've made the right decision in deserting Sirea's place when you did. Looks like I won that bet after all."

"Uhhh, have you been stalking me?" If he'd been a bit rattled by its appearance, he was definitely alarmed now.

"Ah, I prefer the term "Watching over you", to be more precise; a task an old friend gave to me some years ago."

"Who told you to keep tabs on me?"

"While it wasn't Sirea, thank the Underworld, I can't tell you as of now, you'll meet him eventually... what I can do for you, is this." From its body, a ball of darkened energy fissioned off and hovered in the air, then moved over to Nelius. "Please accept my gift. Don't be shy, just take it. After all, we are buddies, aren't we?"

"What the.. the hell is this?" Nelius just watched as it osmosed into his body through his right hand.

"As I just said, my heartfelt gift."

"And, what is it supposed to do?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked. With this little baby, you can regain a little something you might've fortgotten: the real power of darkness."

"Hold on a second. Haven't I always heard that darkness was.."

"Evil?" Damn, the thing nearly read his mind. "True, this power is often used by evil, or those... ugh, petty enough to consider themselves evil, but it's never inherently evil itself. There have been many on the side of good who've made perfect use of this power, even teaming up with their polar opposites in power. To put it in the simplest of terms, it's not the power to be feared, it's the one using it, but most people fear what they neither understand nor control. You would do well to remember this, because it might save your ass one of these days."

"Okay, but, why focus on me in particular?"

"Hmmmn, how do I best put this...Ah. Consider me a close comrade, from a former time." Its body dispersed. "Apologies, but I gotta run. We'll meet again, I assure you."

"Hold it!" It was a bit late for Nelius to ask any questions. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared. '_A former time? What in the name of..._'

**MAKAI!**

Nelius Journal Log, August 19, 33XX

_I've seen some weird crap in my life so far, but this easily takes the cake._

_I was preparing to get some sleep the other night, when this strange creature approaches me from out of nowhere... seriously, it just shows up. It knew my name, and even claimed to be some sort of an ally from a past life.... whatever that means. It gave me some kind of darkness orb and some speech on powers and why people fear them, then disappeared as quickly and quietly as he showed up._

_I could wonder what's going on, but I have other things to be concerned about right now, such as my progress away from the castle._

_Speaking of which, at a guess from the distance that I've traveled overall, I've only got about another day or two of hiking before I make it to the Dimension Port and leave this Netherworld. The only thing I can do now is hope that Sirea's goons don't notice I've escaped; otherwise, it's back to that prison again for me._

**Midnight Area**

Having climbed one of the many trees in this hilly region, Nelius got the general lay of the land. As he had thought, he could see the Interdimensional Port in the distance, where those who made use of Dimension Ships could travel into other Netherworlds, mostly for the acquistion and transportation of supplies that normal Dimension Gates couldn't handle on their own. His own chance to break out of this prison once called his home was only a day away.

'_Once I make it there, all I gotta do is sneak aboard a ship and then I'm in the clear_.'

Because of the traveling strengthening him back up and the occasional consumption of food, Nelius' bag felt significantly lighter, allowing him to carry it with little to no trouble; mostly to prevent other would-be bandits from attempting to steal his goods. He dropped down, landing on his feet, and proceeded to continue his travel toward the port. He kept himself on guard, largely taking into consideration the Mothmen, Imps and other creatures that loved to populate the place.

Close to three hours of hiking later, nightfall quickly covered the Netherworld as he entered into the remote town known as Midnight. The town itself had once been known by another name, but soon earned this name for the thick expanses of trees that covered the whole town, making it appear as if the town was constantly in nightfall, and giving most people not native to the area a hard time of figuring out where they were. It could be sunny for days straight, and these people wouldn't even know, that's how thick the cover was.

'_Let's see..._' Rather ironic he said that. No matter which direction he looked towards, it was all dark, dark, and even more dark. If he stepped outside he'd have an easier time. '_No wonder how this place got its name. If I'm gonna take a shortcut through here, I'm gonna need a way to figure out what this place looks like_.' He considered reaching for a flashlight...

Almost instantly, the orb he'd received from that odd creature the other day glowed from within his body, adjusting his eyesight and making the inhabitants of the town and the buildings that were carved into the trees noticible. Do up the science on it if you want to, I'm continuing on with the story.

'_No idea how I did that, but it works._' Thanks to the orb's power, he could see the inhabitants of the town going about, doing their own things. Some of the humanoid demons, and even a few former residents of Celestia, were holding conversations and doing business with some of the monster type demons that originally lived around the area; it hadn't really mattered who or what they were, all seemed to be getting along fine. Well, about as fine as one can be without having to resort to the normal demon way or using nightvision, but you get what I'm talking about.

A low growl escaped his stomach. Aside from the two packs of dried fish meat he'd had back in the tree, which led to a small scuffle with an oversized Sabercat (that had an attitude to match), he hadn't eaten much within the past few hours. If he was going to be heading on that escape trip, he'd need more than just what he had on him.

'_And the insatiable monster makes himself known. Better find the RosenQueen so I can stock up for the rest of the trip_.' He wandered around for a while, obviously lost until he found a Skellman, who was quite eager to point him in the right direction. The RosenQueen Company shop, Midnight Branch was located near the center of the city. Going straight for the store, he had to keep a straight face as he walked by the citizens, noticing that at least two out every five of them were giving him odd looks, or commenting that they'd never seen someone like him before. To them, he was just some traveler passing through, and that was how he needed to keep it. '_Get in, grab the stuff, and get the hell out_.' He increased his pace and entered into the store.

To say that the RosenQueen store was huge would be an understatement. From outside, it would appear to be just a simple storefront, no bigger than someone's house, but once you got inside, the size of the place was truly overwhelming. Rows upon rows of assorted goods were on display for all to see, beckoning customers with either their packaging or whatever price they were. A true one-stop shop for whatever it is you needed, it was long confirmed that RosenQueen was started by a human family thousands of years ago, though one had to wonder how a human of that time would have been able to pull this off. Speaking of said family, a gigantic portrait of the family's greatest successor from several centuries prior, Etoile RosenQueen, was hanging on the ceiling, reminding all RosenQueen shoppers of the store's long heritage. Though, I'm certain we all could've been better off without having to see that machine gun pointed threateningly at us all. Previous customers would swear that it shot at them before.

Working the counter today was a Kunoichi, a Female Ninja. Though Kunoichi didn't have the physical power their male counterparts were famed for, they had excellent magical proficiency and were even known for moving so fast, they resembled black cougars as they darted through the darkness. Some were said to be rather shy or timid in straight confrontations with others, but you would never mention that to their faces if you wanted to live.

Her violet eyes watched him suspiciously as he entered the store, headed for the food section, and began picking out goods. He was taking his time, carefully choosing any items that wouldn't perish too quickly; after all, he was planning on stowing away on a random ship headed for whatever destination the ship's captain had in mind. The trip could be any length of time, from a day to several weeks long, and he needed enough items to last out at least two weeks, perhaps three if he carefully planned things out. As a just in case measure, he tossed an on-sale Devil Ring in with his selection for good measure.

Taking his selection to the front counter, the Kunoichi took count of his items, ringing up the total of 26,749 Hell. Reaching for the pouch in his left pocket, he counted out the exact amount, and handed it to the cashier. ('_Gotta thank those bandits for the free cash_.') As she counted out the money and placed it into the register, Nelius placed the food items he'd bought into his travel bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, he left the store. Though he had to face the stares and occasional comments of the populace again, he had gotten what he came for, so he hadn't any need to worry or stick around any longer than he needed to.

'_So far, all's well. Now to get out of here_.' Slipping the ring onto his right hand's ring finger, he headed straight for the exit. Right as he was about to leave town, someone called out.

"Hey, stranger. Wait up." This voice was feminine, having a slightly teasing tone to it.

'_Doesn't sound like someone I'd know. Regardless, I can't waste anymore time around here_.' Not even bothering to face or acknowledge his onlookers, he kept walking toward the entrance of the city, and whoever it was that wanted his attention was doing their damnest to make sure they got it. '_There's three of them_.' One of them was wearing some type of footwear, the other walked barefoot, and the last one had ... some similar sound of foilage moving as it followed him. He continued walking, leading them outside of the city before he would confront them. He lead them about a good mile east before stopping. He knew he had to confront them if he was going to get out of here without any more trouble, and being out in the open was his best bet.

"Don't you think you're taking your persistance a little too far?" He called to them as he turned around. Whatever scathing comment he was going to make next died on his tongue.

The first of his followers was a Nekomata. Whenever most people in and around the Netherworld think "Cat-girl", their thoughts immediately turn to her. The Nekomata clan was known, aside from their fan-garnering cat ears and cute looks, for a unique mix of martial arts, mostly favoring kickboxing. If you ever needed someone who was a good hand to hand fighter, look no further. Just be careful of their boundless energy; a sufficiently strong Nekomata could wear out even an Overlord. Also, watch out for imitators.

His second tagalong was a Succubus. This clan of seductive female demons had been around for the longest time, long confirmed to be descended from the first fallen angels. Gifted with strong magical prowess, and a (secretly shifting) body that could stop traffic dead in its tracks, they were notorious in the human world for visiting men's dreams. Succubi got along quite well with the Nekomata, and as such would often partner up in most endeavors. Was it any guess that most Overlords kept one or two around? There was said to be a male variant, the incubus, but those were few and far between. This made Nelius wonder, '_Is Master Big Star from the Academy a type of incubus?_'

The third and final follower was an Alraune, a female spirit that dwelled inside of a flower. Some were said to have origin in various human worlds, but the majority of them came from the Netherworld. The nectar that their flowers produced was sought out for various reasons; by most as a powerful aphrodisiac, and by insect-demons as a long, sustaining food source. Much like the Kunoichi, they had excellent magical proficiency, but some were easily shy, closing themselves up in their petals and refusing to show their faces to anyone. Too bad this one didn't fit the second part of that description.

"Well, if it isn't the usual trio. Ain't this my lucky day?" He said, trying to force up a grin. Though he had taken the "whatever comes my way" approach to this, his mind was currently trying to formulate a plan as to how he could get out of this situation alive. From previous knowledge back at the castle, he knew that taking care of the Nekomata would be fairly easy, since all but one of their attacks required close quarter combat. The Alraune, being a spirit of nature, was another story, as she could easily begin manipulating the trees and other plant life to their advantage, allowing her to attack him from long range. The Succubus would be the toughest to deal with, especially considering that the succubi clan had myriad ways of manipulating males (and select females) to her own advantage, and also considering whatever magic she might've learned.

That, and he was taking into consideration their levels compared to his. As it stood, he could easily go head to head with the weakest one, but the middle one already outclassed him on a thirteen to one basis. The strongest one of the trio could easily have her way with him before he could blink. And no, the succubus wasn't the strongest one.

"Oh, we're not asking of anything... _much_." The Nekomata grinned at him, her teeth glistening in the minute amounts of moonlight.... Yeah, that sounded more creepy than anything else.

"Yes, you see we're awfully lonely; nobody wants to share our company." The Alraune saw this as her turn to attempt to tease him.

"All we ask of you is for some of your time; just for tonight, sugar." The Succubus winked at him. "How about it?"

"Normally, I would find those requests tempting..." He started, as he placed one foot behind him, "butIseriouslydoubtyou'remytype!" With a cracking sound similar to a gunshot, he'd turned around and was gone faster than someone could blink. The three girls giggled to themselves before giving chase.

The poor (or lucky) kid was speeding through the forest, thinking on how he could lose his three pursuers. Sure, he hated himself for running like a coward, but considering how much stronger they were compared to him, it would pay off to outsmart them rather than outmuscle.

'_This is easier said than done. The Nekomata can easily run circles around me, and I find it surprising that the Alraune isn't bending the trees or lifting up the their roots to block me. The Succubus can fly, so it can just... float over... the..geez, I'm an idiot! Of all the times to remember this._' He'd smack himself in the head for forgetting this, but that would have to wait until a later time.

As he ran, he could feel something inside of his back reaching out through his shoulder blades. Close to nine seconds later, a medium sized pair of demon wings sprouted from his back, destroying a good part of his shirt ("Aw, my favorite!") and splashing some blood everywhere. The cartilage structure holding the wings together was green, with red coloring on the inside of his wings; the entire backside stark gray in contrast. If you happen to notice the shaping of his wings, you could infer that he had some traces of Fallen Angel in his blood.

"Damn!" He hissed as the pain shot through his back, but subsided rather quickly. "This was my own fault. I gotta take more care of these wings." He had no more time to chide himself. The Succubus had decided to cut to the chase, and was flying right at him, determined to catch him. Giving an experimental flap of his wings, he took a leap into the air as the demoness passed straight underneath him, nearly clipping the tree. He quickly landed on an outstretched branch, taking in the view of his surroundings and trying to see if the other two had followed. The Nekomata had easily jumped up to a branch equal to his, and the Alraune was using the vines that coiled around the underside of her flower to climb the tree. The Succubus just landed on a branch behind him.

'_Now, how can I get myself out of this one?_' As the three females launched themselves toward him (each shouting something along the lines of "Come play with us!"), he prepared to jump, when, before he could even register what had just happened, he was teleported a good distance away onto another branch as the three crashed into each other rather painfully and comically, their heads hitting each others' with the sounds of coconuts colliding.

'_Whoa, what the heck was that?_' He wondered.

"**Netherburst, my dear boy.**" OK, now there was some kind of voice from within his mind. How many times has this happened before?

'_Huh? Netherburst? The hell kind of name is that?_'

"**Shut up, I didn't choose the name. This is a technique equaled only through light. Take good consideration on how you use this.**"

'_Someone's screwing around with me, aren't they?_' The voice had apparently decided to remain silent. '_Never mind that, at least I lost those three_.' As he looked over to where they were, he noticed that they were gone. '_Hang on, where'd they go? Did they give up?_'

"Ohh, little boyfriend, we're coming to find you." The teasing voice of the Alraune made Nelius shiver. Scratch that idea.

"Why don't you come on out and play a little, we don't bite... hard." The Nekomata was the next to try and lure him out. Again, more creepy than anything else.

"I promise that the game we'll be playing will be a lot of fun." The Succubus' comment caused a literal chill to race up and down his spine. Consider what they call _playing_, mind you, and you'd see his reason for caution.

When he looked down, the three looked upward, and the chase was on for the second time that night.

"There he is!"

"Oh look, he wants to play."

'_Shit shit shit shit SHIT! I'm seriously beginning to think I've got the worst luck with women!_' He told himself as he jumped from branch to branch, barely making each jump. '_I begin to wonder if I was cursed in a past life_.' At one point, he slipped, but managed to grab onto the next branch and swing over toward another one. '_Did I even have a past life? If so, I must be paying the price for whatever it was I did_.' Keep this pace up forever was out of the question; his wings were still relatively new to him, and his legs were beginning to tire out. He had to find some way to end this chase, and quick. '_What a time to wish for an Accelerator_.'

As he prepared to make another jump, his wings suddenly felt ice cold, which stopped him on the branch. His three pursuers stopped on their own branches.

"Ohhh, looks like he's all worn out." The Nekomata was the first to notice. She looked to her comrades. "What do you say we.. re-energize him, girls?" They giggled to themselves, and were about to jump at Nelius, when they noticed something odd about him, aside from him turning around.

His wings, aside from glowing with an unknown energy, were aimed downward, and if you measured the angle, toward their feet. He looked at all three of them.

"I already told you all, you're not my type!" With that, the wings fired off their energy, creating bolts that illuminated the whole forest upon making contact with something, blinded Nelius' pursuers in the process, and launched him several feet backwards, out of the woods and toward his current goal: the Dimension Port.

He continued firing on for about five seconds, at which he ran out of power and quickly realized he had been launched above the trees. As he fell, he rotated around so he would glide toward the port. Though his wings were rather tired out after launching that attack, and man did they ache, they had enough strength to allow him to glide for a while, until he had a perfect three-point landing... into another tree.

**MAKAI! **

Nelius Journal Log: August 20, 33XX

_I finally made it. After seventy-two hours I never want to repeat again, not even through a New Game Plus, I have finally made it to the Dimension Port City, without having any of Sirea's goons finding me. Security here is basically non-existant, so I don't have to worry about being ratted out by someone I know. Then again, since I've only been here once before, I doubt anyone will recognize me._

_Now, the only thing standing between me and my freedom is a ride on a ship. With all these different ships in front of me, all I gotta do is choose one and be done with it. The only real question is: if I do get caught, would the Overlord, or whoever commands the ship, be a bit more forgiving than Queen Bitch back there was? _

_Eh, as a human I once knew would say: nothing ventured, nothing gained. Better just board one and hope for the best._

**End of Chapter 2 **

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	3. Chapter 3

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 3: New Beginnings

'_Wow, there's hundreds of them..._' Nelius took in the sight of the thousands of different ships from around the multiverse, their captains and crews out either stocking up on supplies or just chatting with the locals. Although the majority of them looked similar to the avarage pirate ship, kinda like the (how in the hell are they still around) pirates of the Item World, there were several other ships that had the futuristic, more modern design going for them, kinda like Zetta... er, I mean Asagi's Yoshistuna Battleship. ('_Wait, is Asagi even still alive?'_)

One ship in particular caught his attention. This behemoth was easily one of the largest ships at the port, big enough to store several of the other ships and all of their crewmembers. Two sets of wings, one located near the front and one in the rear, had special hinges that allowed them to fold into a multitude of shapes; they were an advanced set of swing wings, allowing for a greater range of maneuverability compared to others. The front of the ship, however, was what caught his attention the most: a third set of swing wings had folded over the cockpit of the ship, somehow giving it an appearance similar to a feline's face.

Nelius couldn't help but laugh at the irony of his situation. '_Doesn't this figure? I get away from a feline and her two accomplices, and this ship is two transformations away from becoming Voltron_.' Shaking away the drowsiness, and jabbing one of his gauntlet's fingers into his right arm, he turned his mind back onto his mission. '_Gotta concentrate here, no more joking around. I need to choose a ship to stow away on in order to escape this Netherworld, and Sirea's greedy mitts_.' Before he would, though, he decided to take a moment and do a double check on his bag's contents. There was enough food to last him for at least a week, two or even three if he skipped a day on eating every now and then. '_Good, there's more than enough to last me the length of the trip. All I have to do is be smart about how much I use_.'

Unfortunately for him, while he'd been double-checking his supplies, a majority of the ships had taken off, leaving Nelius with a few scant choices remaining. Must've been a race going on to account for such a massive takeoff at that moment. Certainly explained the posters all around the place.

'_Oh, now I know for a fact that this was scripted. That ass at the keyboard's screwing around with me again_.' And then there were three.... ships.

The first of the ships he recognized immediately. It was one of Sirea's personal supply cruisers, though it hadn't been used in a while. '_Cross that one off the list_.'

The second ship, well.... '_I wouldn't last five seconds on that oversized toothpick_.'

His choice then settled on the feline-esque, futuristic ship. Good thing he wasn't allergic to cat hair, and having once bunked with a Sabercat solidified that.

**RosenQueen, Dimension Port Branch**

"Hey, Brad, long time no see!" The Heavy Knight, known for its strong armor and excellent throwing abilities, called out to someone from the counter he worked. Whoever it was he called to then headed over to see him.

The one known as Brad was a anthropomorphic black jaguar demon. Sure, the sight of an upright walking cat was common in the land of demons, the Nekomata and Sabercats being a testamant to that, but Brad was a completely different case, mostly in the fact that he was one of the only two _confirmed_ male cat demons; thus making him a Netherworld rarity. You could consider him a walking trophy, if not for the fact that, for his size and strength, he could chop your ass into bits and chunks before you could take your last breath. And yes, there is an associated kill count. The other male cat... is that moron still alive? No? I figured as much.

"Jackson." He grinned as he walked over toward the Knight. "It has been too long since last time. Things been going well around here?"

"About as well as this place usually does, what with all the crazies, overconfident Overlord hopefuls and whatnot. So, you're back for the usual, I take it?" He reached underneath the counter and extracted a chest-sized box marked Brad. "This is pretty much the only reason I see you around here anymore."

"Yeah, the cost of everything else has skyrocketed. It's getting out of hand." The cat reached into his pocket and extracted a bag with Jackson's payment, handing it over to the Knight. "This should cover it." Jackson laughed.

"You know by now it's more than enough. So, how's the formation back at base coming along? One of your own happened to tell me there's a few problems going on over there."

"Yeah, there is. I've finally managed to get the more advanced construction down, and I've recovered more of what was lost after the previous Overlord left, but as it is, I can't step out of the boundaries during the recovery effort; otherwise everything falls apart faster than I can stop it. There's no real way for me to make sure everything's in the order I need it to be."

"Without any doubt, that sucks. From the sound of that, I'd wager that you'd need someone to make sure everything goes according to plan."

"Yeah, but hey, you can't have everything in life. Well, until next time, then." With that, Brad headed back for his ship, Phantom Cat Mk. 2. '_Come to think of it, I should start looking around for someone who could handle that, but there's hardly anyone who'd be up for that line of work_.' He thought about using some of his vassals, but already knew that the lot of them would turn it down, especially with the amount of water work involved. '_Why did I choose a Netherworld full of cats again?_'

**Phantom Cat Mk. 2, loading bay**

Sneaking around to the backside of the large ship, Nelius noticed the loading bay door open, with two Heavy Knights busy loading several boxes full of supplies. They didn't even need to think about how to get them aboard; they just picked the boxes up and chucked them in, a testament to the strength long upheld by their special academy. Humorously, they were also rather accurate about how they got their boxes in.

'_And this is why Sirea doesn't even need to put up security_.' As one loaded the boxes up, the other stood watch, making it, for all intents and purposes, impossible to get past them without raising suspicion. After about five to ten minutes of the old Heave Ho, the two headed around to the front of the ship to signal that everything was packed up and ready to go. As the loading door began to close, Nelius shot out from his hiding spot, and with an impressive leap that could shame even the best of professional jumpers, cleared the door and made it inside.

"Hm?" One of the Knights looked back, right at what was Nelius' hiding spot. "Thought I heard something."

"It's probably nothing. Ignore it." The other one told him.

"All right, I made it in... whoa!" He had no time to congratulate himself on a successful infiltration, because mere seconds after the door closed, the ship rattled as it took off, almost sending him to the floor as it did so.

"Stabilization process initiated." A voice came over the shipwide loudspeaker. Within seconds, the ship stopped its rattling, noticibly feeling much smoother. You could barely even tell if the ship was moving or not. "Process complete."

'_Either way, I made it less thing to worry about._' With that, he positioned himself behind some crates, tossed his bag down to act as a pillow and lulled off to his much needed sleep, postponed by the three lady demons who'd chased him well into the morning hours. '_I wonder what awaits me when this ship stops..._'

**Castle Sirea**

Back at the Overlord's Keep, damage assessment was going around, ever since the invasion of the bandits had subsided. Cera was busy overseeing the reconstruction efforts.

"Damn thieves, they don't learn when to give up." Cera was less than happy; even though the most of them that hadn't been captured eventually ran off, they had destroyed one of her favorite training spots inside the castle. "If I ever see them again, especially that son of a bitch that--"

"Especially that son of a bitch who did what?" Sirea's voice rang out. She had returned a little early.

"Mistress Sirea!" Cera was immediately present. Lap dog to the core. "During your time away, several factions of bandits attempted to raid the castle. Of course, they failed, but..."

"I can see what those little bastards did, what I'd like to know is where are the vassals at?"

"Currently finishing repairs on the damaged areas." '_Including my favorite spot, those bastards_.'

"I see, and what about that boy?" Cera snapped back to attention. She had almost forgotten.

"He's been rather quiet as of late. I saw him fighting a few bandits near the pantry, but that was all before the second wave hit. I believe he's working in another area of the castle, though I haven't seen him anywhere else today. Nobody else reported seeing him, either."

"If he's not working in the other areas, he's probably holed up in his room, again. Go, drag him out of there if you must." Cera did as she was commanded as Sirea reclined into her throne.

The meeting had dragged on for too long, mostly concerning new matters among all three realms. While she didn't care much for the Human World (not even as to how it was still alive and kicking), the matter on Celestia's search for a new second-in-command had caught her rapt attention, especially that Archangel representing the angels' land.

'_He was a real piece of work. I wonder how I could convince him to.._.' As she was about to go over the details, Cera burst into the throne room. "What is it this time?"

"M-mistress Sirea... he's gone!" Cera's face was paler than a Vampire's last victim. And we could see that the blood was rushing to Sirea's.

"_?!_ What do you mean, he's gone?"

"Somehow, he escaped. I don't see how, since someone else should've seen him. I think the thieves might've..."

"Don't just stand there with your thumb up your ass, find that boy immediately!" Sirea shrieked as Cera dashed out of the throne room in a heartbeat. The Overlord moved to the balcony which allowed her a view of the Netherworld she held dominion over. '_For him to fall into another Overlord's hands... No, I can't let that come to pass just yet. He possesses something of great value to me, and I must have it returned._' She looked toward the darkened sky, watching the few ships that docked at and left the Dimension Port.

'_You will return, my little offworlder. Your otherworldly origin is of great use to me, and what I have planned._'

**End of Chapter 3**

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	4. Chapter 4

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 4: First Impression: not so good.

Aboard the Phantom Cat Mk. 2 as it travelled through the dimensional space between Netherworlds, Nelius, having found himself a comfortable spot to nest in, was sound asleep in the cargo hold, catching up on the hours he'd missed. Sure, most demons can go without sleep for extended periods of time, but he was feeling rather drained for some odd reason. Some kind of odd vision crept into his mind, showing himself, but instead of having his regular demon wings, one of them had begun transforming into other strange forms. Sometimes it would form a blade, or it would curl around him as a defensive measure. Then, both wings began to transform, becoming a wild assortment of other offensive and defensive features.

"**Never forget the blood that runs through your veins.**"

Nelius awoke with a start. He chided himself for not thinking to buy a watch back at the RosenQueen shop to tell himself how long it'd been since he fell asleep. Managing a small stretch forward, he snuck a peek around the corner of the stack of boxes he'd hidden behind... and quickly found himself regretting having come aboard this ship.

'_He's the captain of this rustbucket? Holy--_' From what he could see, the largest black jaguar demon he'd ever seen was commanding two Tailrings.... yeah, the Felynn with the blue hair and green fur, to begin moving several of the boxes from the room across the hall into here. Though the extra boxes would give him a cover advantage, it wouldn't mean anything if one of those three happened to detect him. So, in order to keep his presence hidden, this meant making himself as small as possible... and making sure he wasn't sweating too heavily. Demons like the Nekomata can easily pick up on small changes in the air's scent.

For all of about ten minutes, things went without a hitch, until the insatiable monster known as Nelius' empty stomach began to complain, loudly. Realizing what had happened, his breath went silent as he mentally cursed himself for having his appetite suddenly decide to ramp up tenfold.

"Huh? What was that?" Curious as to the noise she'd heard, one of the Tailrings went over to investigate. She was just about to give the crates a once-over...

"Jasmyne, don't worry about those ones for now." Brad admonished her. "We still have other things to finish up before we return." Motioning with his head, the two Tailrings followed him back out of the room and back toward wherever it was they came from.

"My sense of timing sucks." Now able to breathe easily, he reached into his bag and extracted a random pack of dried meats. Being careful not to make too much noise, he opened the package and devoured the contents in two quick bites. Having nowhere else to place it, he put the empty packaging wrapper into a side pocket on his bag, reminding himself to dump off any trash and get himself one of those new self-storing demension tents as soon as he could afford one. His clothing and other travel items would most likely have the smell of dried, seasoned meat eminating from them. '_And if that giant jaguar has any more Felynn serving him, smelling like a prepared meal is the last thing I want to be doing_.'

With stretching currently out of the question, and his stomach satisfied for the time being, he fell back on the only option he had left: snooze. He made himself comfortable and did so.

**Sirea's Netherworld**

In Sirea's Netherworld, news of Nelius' disappearance was travelling to other areas much faster than someone with an unmodified Hyperdrive engine. Already, in many towns across the Netherworld, including Midnight, search parties had been organized by Sirea's vassals in attempts to loacte him and drag him back to the Overlord's castle under any cirumstances. Needless to say, since he wasn't even there, they had no luck at all, and this infuriated her even further. The sheer aura of agitation coming off of her told everyone within sixty yards to stay the hell away, especially Cera.

'_How could he escape?!_' Sirea's mind was being driven in circles, trying to figure out how he slipped past any of the guards and got away. '_Chill, chill... damn it. Did the seal's power wear out faster than expected?_' She mentally cursed herself for getting far too overconfident. '_If it was the work of those thieves, then they must've figured it out. I'll have to step the plan up some_.'

Even with bumping the reward money up six million Hell, her efforts were for nothing, since he was aboard...

**Phantom Cat Mk. 2**

A stinging sensation quickly woke Nelius. Realising it was coming from his right hand, hidden beneath the glove that covered it, he removed said glove and the ring he bought, revealing Sirea's old seal crest that she'd placed on him when he first started apprenticing under her six years back. Furthermore, said seal was directly over some kind of scar. Removing the Shatter Gauntlet from his left hand, he set it on the floor next to him before licking his left thumb and rubbing over the ink.

45 minutes, one smudged shirt and one very raw and sore thumb later, the ink was cleanly smudged away, perfectly revealing the scar on his hand. The outline was a burning red, and the shape of the scar itself seemed to take the form of a circle or ring; it only served to confuse him even further. Even whenever he removed the glove in the past, he certainly didn't remember having either the scar on his hand anytime before.

'_I don't remember ever having this on my hand before. Was it due to the seal's magic, cause I left her employ?_' Any kind of answer would have to come later; with a shudder, the ship had landed somewhere. '_Looks like we've finally set down. I wonder where I am now_.' Getting his gear back into place, he was mentally prepared, but his cramped muscles demanded that he get warmed up before doing anything else. Checking around the general area for anyone and finding everything clear, he cautiously stood up and stretched himself, loosening up his tightened arms and legs before bending backwards to work out any kinks in his waist and to stretch his back. The sound of many approaching footsteps told him to get back into his hiding spot before he got spotted. His wings would have to wait again.

A moment later, the jaguar, Brad, entered into the storage compartment of his ship, accompanied by his Tailrings, perhaps the sames ones as before, and they began moving most of the smaller boxes from the front of the room toward the loading door, completely passing Nelius by. One's tail came dangerously close to smacking him in the face twice.

'_What's the bet that they either know of my location or they want me to watch?_' Shortly afterwards, the lights died out as the loading door opened, spilling natural sunlight into the cargo hold and forcing Nelius to squint; his eyes had been adjusted to the artificial light for so long, the appearance of the real deal caused his eyes to ache before adjusting. He wasn't the only one who had difficulties with the sudden adjustment; he could hear several others complaining before Brad told them to shut up.

"OK, that is everything accounted for." Brad's voice filled the room as he commanded his ground crew. "Start unloading."

'_Crap! This is bad!!_' He knew that if they moved the box he was hiding behind, he'd be found out, and considering what all he'd gone through to get here, if he got caught.... Nelius didn't want to think about it. He considered hiding in another box in order to get past the loaders, and a relatively large crate was covering him. In about two minutes he's gonna wish he considered another crate to hide in; the box he quickly pried open then slipped into when nobody was around or looking was full of catnip, and if you thought this was the generic stuff grown and marketed in the Human World, then boy are you in for a surprise! The box was eventually lifted up and carried out of the ship by another Nekomata.

"Hey Brad, how much catnip did you grab this time around?" A groaning female voice, the one trying her damnest to keep ahold of the crate, inquired.

"The normal amount for the experiments Maddie, what makes you ask?" He asked his own question.

"I know I've only been working here since last year, but this certainly doesn't feel like the regular shipment; it's like carting an extra person around inside this thing." That statement made Nelius' hair stand on end. He just slipped into a box full of netherworld catnip; at least it explained the plants he was now neck-deep in. She passed the crate over to Brad, who merely lifted it by one massive paw.

"You're right. It's about one-tenth heavier than when I picked it up yesterday. I wonder what might have happened." He made a move to open the box, but hesitated. "We'll open it when we get back to greenhouse number 5. I don't need a repeat of last year's incident."

'_This prolongs my life, if only for a few minutes longer. I only hope they're open-mined enough to listen before I become their next six-course dinner_.'

**Brad's Netherworld, Greenhouse 5**

About an hour later, the box of netherworld catnip Nelius was hiding in was transported to a greenhouse located in the middle of what appeared to be a forest or jungle; maybe a hybrid of the two. Using the small hole in the side of the box, he snuck a peek at the interior. Plants of all different origins and types were here under study, several of which he could easily recognize from his home Netherworld.

'_Some kind of science, maybe? I've never heard of many demons aside from Mao doing this sort of stuff._' The plants around the room were flourishing, and many of them gave off a scent of fresh fruit, though none of them, from what he could see, were bearing any fruit. '_That jaguar,Brad, did mention experiments. Maybe it's some sort of cross-breeding deal_?'

"I'll be right back." The one called Brad quickly left, having to retrieve several items before they could begin. "Don't start without me." Oh sure, tell a giant gaggle of cats they can view the catnip, but can't partake in it. You'd have a much easier time dangling food just out of the reach of several hundred angry tigers and other vicious creatures. Go ahead, see where it gets you; I just hope you enjoy your time as a Prinny, ya moron.

"Now, let's see what's causing this crate to be so heavy." One of them went to remove the top...

"Hey, he just said to wait!" Another one warned. "Remember last year's incident?"

"It'll be fine. All I'm doing is taking a quick look." She removed the lid, despite more warnings from everyone else, and took a good look inside. "Huh, I see nothing else in here, Maddie. You must've been imagining things."

"You serious?" The one named Maddie went to take a look herself. "I'd have sworn that there was something else in here. Did Brad really get that much catnip this time?"

"Never mind that, take a look at this." Another one of the Nekomata working there called their attention to a display. "Why's the temperature of this greenhouse all out of whack?"

"I think someone was messing around with the settings; probably the people who worked last shift for the night. Lemme take a crack at it." As another of them went to mess with the settings, several of them began to deliberate amongst themselves. Nobody even noticed Nelius' head popping out of the catnip as he stood straight up, carefully climbing out of the crate, oblivious to the fact that he was covered head to toe in the plant. As long as he could make out the back door without being seen by any of them...

'_One foot, second foot, all is good, drop off the table, and..._' Well, he never got a chance to get halfway to the door, as one of them promptly bugged out as she turned around to put the lid back on the container before Brad returned.

"Holy Hell! It's a friggin' Catnip monster!! I told you all this would happen someday!" One of the younger Felynn shouted, alerting them to Nelius' presence and throwing the rest of them into panic. Without even thinking they all divebombed him, determined to defeat this menace. "Get him! Make sure he can't get to Brad!"

As Nelius did everything in his power to esacpe the Felynn demons' grasp ('_This clinches it, I really do have crappy luck with women!_'), the scent of the catnip radiating from his body, combined with his rapidly sweating body's scent, flowed through the nostrils of each of the Felynn, causing them to eventually stop and begin falling under the plants' effects. Completely forgetting about the "Attack of the Catnip Creature from the Crate", they found themselves pleasantly lightheaded and giddy, and simply released him.

"Woooooow, maybe heeeee isn't so bad aaaaafteeeeerrr aaaaaaalllllll. Meeeee thinks we were wrong about yoooooouuuu...." Some of them had even decided to rub up against him and purr, perhaps as a welcome greeting, but needless to say, he moved aisde as they all fell down around him.

Not even bothering to question this sudden turn of events, Nelius grabbed handfuls of the plants and tossed them off of himself, even onto the faces of several more Felynn for good measure, as he dashed out the greenhouse's back door, reminding himself to find some kind of water and wash the scent of the plant from himself as he took off into the thick foilage of the trees. The last thing he wanted anytime soon was a repeat of this incident.

Barely two minutes after he slipped out the back, Brad showed back up with several tools, ready to begin, only to see the greenhouse full of Nekomatas that couldn't stand up or think straight. One of them, the dark blue-furred Cait Sith (a supervisor, no less), managed to get to her feet and saunter over to him, albeit in a clumsy and somewhat silly manner.

"Heeey, Braad." The catnip's effects were clearly present on her flushed features as she put an arm around his shoulder in order to balance herself. "What took yoooouuu sooo long? You missed one hell of a welcoming party!"

"All right, which one of you got into the catnip this time?" He had been dreading that question. "I specifically told you not to open that stuff up until I got back. Honestly, I do expect better of you."

"Ahh, who cares, let's party!" She threw her hands into the air, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground. Even after such a bump, she was still giddy. "Wow, I see whole bunches of catnip kitties! Too bad heeee didn't stick arrrrooouuunnndd, you'd have liked hiiiiiiimmmmmmmm!" She then appeared to bat at something floating through the air.

Brad sighed to himself. "No restraint whatsoever. I want to reserve it for my experiments, but no, they have to go and get into it. Bunch of.." He gave the room a once-over, seeing the so-called "workers" that had decided to indulge in the plant...

"Hang on a moment. Something's off about all of this." As he stepped into the room, careful not to step on any of the others, he picked up a small handful of the catnip he'd acquired on Sirea's Netherworld and took a careful whiff; even being the Overlord, a significantly strong source could cause him to feel as lightheaded as his vassals. A lingering scent still remained on it; it was the scent of an offworld demon, a male, and he had been what caused that crate to be heavier than normal. Something else caught his attention: a video monitor he placed there to keep tabs on the plants' growth had caught all the action, from him sneaking out of the crate to accidentally making some new friends.... and one BIG enemy.

"A stowaway. Go ahead and try to run and hide all you like, I will eventually have you found." He reached into his pocket, extracting a cell phone and hitting a number he placed on speed dial. About six seconds later, it patched through.

"Hey, Brad. This is Catelyn, leader and captain of the Third Sector in the Sky." It was the commander of one of his attack squads. "What can we do for you today, chief?"

"We happen to have a Code 23, orange level alert." He could imagine the look of surprise on her face. "I'm certain you know what it means."

"So, we've got ourselves an uninvited guest. It's been a long time since we happened to have a new friend over. What do you want us to do about it?"

"I'm sending you some video of our little guest. There's no way you can miss him. Make sure you give him the proper welcome." He entered several commands, sending the data to her.

"Oh, he's a cute one. We'll happily go retrieve him." Click.

**End of Chapter 4**

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	5. Chapter 5

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 5: Running does no good...

'_Shit shit shit! I should've known this was gonna happen!_'

It was just as I had thought, that jaguar had more Felynn serving him, and after that escapade in the greenhouse, there was no doubt my wanted status shot through the roof. If I ended up being caught, any chance of getting off lightly had likely plummeted faster than when Etna lost her levels during the Veldime Incident, and we all know what happened afterwards.

As I made tracks away from the greenhouse, I never had any idea that I had attracted the attention of a stalker who had decided to play along. Even with my efforts to cover my tracks, I obviously forgot that eyes can be everywhere around you, including from literally right on top of you.

I had to stop by another tree for a minute or two to catch my breath. I had been on the run nonstop for what felt like several good hours or so, and it felt like my lungs were hit with an Omega Fire spell, then forcibly ripped out of my chest and tossed into an incinerator powered by the combined strength of Lee-Shang Long and that Peta Fire chick. Everything around me looked the same, so I had no idea as to where it was I ended up, but as long as I was far away from any other Nekomata, I was safe... man, did I forget about the inverse.

"Huff... hff...I should be safe for now." I looked around the general area, seeing nothing around. "Someone, please tell me I'm finished with the worst."

"You most certainly are." A woman's voice called out from all around me, answering my request and giving me an unpleasant surprise. "The best of it has just arrived!"

"What the.." No matter which way I turned, I didn't see anyone else around. '_Where'd that come from?_' "Who's out there?" I started backing up...

"Why, I'm right here, you naughty runaway." .... Right into someone's grasp. Before I would have a chance to dash off, my arms were tightly bound behind my own back, and I was pulled back quite forcefully. It was another Nekomata demon, explains the giant paws now holding me tight. "Excitement like this is rare at best. I suppose I owe you a thanks." Whoever she was, she was either playing some kind of head game or attempting to flirt with me; probably the latter. From my own experience with them, they won't beat around the bush when it comes to most matters; they're regular straight shooters.

"Now, mind explaining what possessed you to come here and cause all this trouble, hmm?" She had decided to keep her head right next to mine as she spoke, and I could feel her breath on the right side of my face, her ample chest pressing into my back. Needless to say, it was starting to drive up the wall, and not the ones you'd be thinking of. "Well?" Trust me when I say this, trying to come up with some kind of decent answer is harder than Hell when you've got someone that close to you. Oh, and that's not all that's hard. "Ohh, stop being so shy. I'm not going to bite...OK, maybe I'll just nibble some. You smell tasty." That was it, that statement gave me all the strength necessary to burst free from her grip and speed off.

She giggled to herself. "Oooh, I just love it when they play hard to get. I'll let him get a head start this time... time's up!" With a laugh, the feline gave chase.

Oh sure, I could've stayed behind and enjoyed her company, but consider the predicament I'm in. I'm stuck on a Netherworld full to the brim with nothing but Felynn, and their leader would tear me several new ones before I could even register what happened. As it was right now, if I was gonna make up for all that my boss had neglected, being hit on by a catwoman wouldn't help me out-- then again, I probably should've taken the time to scope out who commanded what ship, so this was my own fault. In true fashion, however, I never saw what was about to happen. Taking a moment to spare a glance behind myself, that had been my own mistake --- I ended up running right into the waiting arms of the huntress I escaped just last paragraph. With a mighty "Ommf!" as I turned my head around to make sure I wasn't driving blind, my face was firmly implanted into the Elbacky's ever so bountiful rack.

"Quite the bold little demon, aren't you? I like you already." All I could see was a wall of dark and light brown and purple fur through my swirling vision. When I looked upward into the face of my captor, I'm told that my eyes grew to the size of small dinner plates, I turned around and tried to escape, but it was all for naught. I learned real quickly that she was much stronger than I was at that time, especially with how firmly she held me down. "Hold it right there. You don't need to run off so quickly." Blantant lie, Blantant lie. "Now, mind explaining why you're here?" If someone was willing to listen, I may as well spill. "You don't need to worry, I won't hurt you. I can't speak for anyone else, but..."

"I had to depart from the Netherworld I moved to when I was young." As I explained the reason as to why I came here, the Elbacky's expression changed from one of amusement to one of concern. "For a while, everything was good. Close to three years ago, though, Sirea suddenly changed, and for the worse."

"Sirea? Who's that?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"The Overlord of my home Netherworld. She actually used to be a rather fair ruler, practically like the late Krichevskoy's twin sister or something, until she headed off for this exploration in another world."

I still remembered that day. She had taken her best vassals to the area, after having found out that the area was supposed to house several monsters perfectly capable of re-creating that war said to have shaken the macrocosm to its core three centuries back. Something told me I should've gone to stop her, but by the time I was able to act, she had already left.

"When she returned about a week later, she suddenly became... hell, for a lack of a better description, irritable." That was the understatement of the day. The next three years I had to endure made torture in the Underworld look like a vacation. "For some reason, she started to become... pretty much a tyrranical despot, the stereotypical kind of Overlord from way back when. Her new policies make regular prinny treatment look downright humane by comparison."

"Why'd she make such a drastic change like that, all of a sudden?"

"I'm... I haven't got any clue. That's the one thing I was--" Any further conversation between us was cut short by the appearance of one of the Overlord's search squads.

"There he is! Brad wants him captured alive."

"Heh, he's not half-bad looking."

"Doesn't it figure that all the good ones head straight for her?"

Startled, the Elbacky's grasp loosened, allowing me every opportunity I needed to turn tail and run. She stood there as I dashed off, followed shortly by the search squad.

She later tells me she heard one of them congratulating her on finding him, but her thoughts were elsewhere. If she says so...

Thusly, the chase was on yet again. I ran on for such a distance, taking several turns here and there, trying my damnest to throw a good number of them off of my trail; you'd think that a crazy, erratic trail would be tough to follow, right?

Wrong! No matter what kind of move I made, the chasing squad would match and anticipate every move I made, forcing me to improvise.

"I'm a gonna get ya!" As this one popped up from nowhere, I ended up swerving to my right, running right into another thick expanse of shrubbery.

"Tag, you're it!" Now I was forced to run to my left and jump a small river.

"Come to mamma!" OK, this one was downright frightening. I had to dive underneath her grasp.

"Big Sis gonna grab you!" See my previous statement. Now I had to jump over her as she dived to grab me.

Outrunning them was not a viable option, since I was started to tire again. I know I was a bit out of shape due to my boss' weird policies, but I knew for a fact I could've gone on for a much longer period. Hearing running water, I deemed it time to try my other plan.

**River **

The squad of Felynn stopped at the edge of the wide river that was formed by the waterfall about one to two miles away. They looked around, but didn't see anything.

"He's gone." The leader of this squad, a red and purple Werecat, looked around. "Brad's not gonna like this news."

"How'd he lose us?" Another one asked. "That kid's quicker than he looks."

"He looked rather tired. If he did run off, he have to stop for breath sometime."

As they searched around the area, one of them had to ask, "Now where'd that kid go?"

"He went that a'way!" The Skellman near the bank of the river pointed his sign's arrow downstream.

"Oh, thanks man."

"Sa' right." The squad quickly ran downstream. Said Skellman looked around the area, waited another minute or so, then extended a hand out to the back of his head, feeling for a zipper. Seeing the area to be relatively safe, Nelius unzipped the costume, stepped out of it, then crept back over to the small outcropping of rocks where he'd hidden his bag. He reached down to pick his bag back up, then reached into it to grab his Journal. He had to log this one in.

**MAKAI!**

Nelius Log Journal August 21, 33XX

_In a twisted, not so good sort of way, mission accomplished. I have escaped Sirea's Netherworld and made it to another... but I think I gave a good number of the locals the wrong impression, including this gigantic black jaguar who appears to be the Overlord here. I think they called him Brad, if I correctly recall. Hn, same name as that wolf with the shades and cybernetic arms._

_The one thing I'm not sure of is how much longer I can keep eluding them before I end up getting caught. From what I've seen so far, all of the inhabitants here are Felynn, which makes any straight confrontation with them basically impossible right now. Hell, the lowest level one of the bunch chasing me earlier already outdoes me four to one. That Elbacky from earlier appeared to be concerned about why I came here, but I don't know if I can completely trust her yet. _

_I guess only time will tell. Speaking of time, it's starting to get late. I better find somewhere to hole up for the night. That sky does not look friendly._

**Waterfall basin**

He closed his Journal, noting that it was starting to finally get dark. '_Even with my ability to see in the dark, most Felynn are active after nightfall. I better get moving_.' He slung his bag over his shoulder and began hiking upstream. As he walked, he began to think on the events that had been going on: from popping out of that box (catnip monster) to being chased into the thick foilage by a squad of cat demons.

Not at all the way he'd expected things to turn out; then again, when has anything ever turned out as someone expects it to go? It's one of the three contemporary laws of the Universe, even in the Netherworlds: hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and expect the unexpected. He followed the first, forgot about the second and never even thought about the third.

"Next time, I ought to think things through before I carry them out." He shook his head. "Wait, the hell am I thinking? This is only the start of something new!"

Now at the waterfall, he saw a cave located nearby and decided to use that as shelter for the night. The clouds above signaled a monster of a storm was on the way, with a good chance of lightning. Sure, it would also scatter his pursuers, but he did not want to get caught by that, and quickly dashed in.

Not even bothering to extract any of the goods he took from his chamber back at Sirea's, once he ventured deep enough into the cave, but close enough to see the entrance, he lazily tossed his bag onto the floor and flopped down on it, settling to sleep as the first stroke of thunder was heard. As a good measure to keep himself warm, he extended his wings and curled them around himself as a makeshift blanket.

'_If this is how today went, I can only imagine how the next few days will be..._'

**End of chapter 5**

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	6. Chapter 6

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 6: ... and neither does Hiding.

This was such a crazy day. Barely an hour or so after Brad returns from his usual supply trips, some ANB (All Nekomata Bulletin) went out about an offworld kid, and all of Brad's best vassals begin scrambling around, trying to find him. I thought it had been just some random drill or a hoax, until I actually located the kid in question.

I can and will confess this: I thought he was cute. Yeah, it must be strange for a demon like me to be saying that, but damn it, after the past few years I've been living here ever since Brad took over as Overlord, I was relieved to finally see someone else that wasn't another Felynn, Sabercat or monster. That, and whoever said I was always an Elbacky?

After I tracked him down, I deemed it time to press him for some information. What I hadn't expected was that he was a refugee from another Netherworld. To have a boss that suddenly goes from trustworthy to tyrannical in under a week...

However, one of Brad's best squads turned up, and he bolted. I'd like to continue finding out more about him, but I'd have to resume my search another day: I hadn't bothered tuning in to the weather report, and saw a massive storm heading in. Considering where I was, trying to get back to my tenative place back at Brad's city would guarantee a soaking, so I had to dash back to my cave near the Waterfall. I made it there just before the rain started to come down, but what's this I see?

Well, well. Looks like our offworld demon decided to use my place for the night. Not that I mind, but it would've been better if he'd let me know first. Oh well, since we're not going anywhere until that storm stops, I'm sure he won't mind me joining him.

"Mrphg... warm..." Looks like I was right. He certainly didn't mind at all. As cute as this all is, I have to wake him up. How should I go about this... oh, I know.

"Well well, someone's rather frisky in the morning, aren't they? My kind of guy." That did the trick. With just that statement, the kid's eyes flew open with the speed of a miniature sonic boom. His eyes drifted upward to see one very familiar face-- me. "Small netherworld, wouldn't you agree?"

What happened next was a blink and you'd miss it moment. In under two seconds he was against the opposite side of the cave. He probably set some kind of new record.

"Wha.. h-how'd you know I was in here?" His face was contorted into something like fearful surprise, more fear than surprise, mind you.

"Hon, this cave in particular is prime real-estate for a demon like me; it happens to double as my little home away from home, so you could say I live here part-time." Wow, I'm pretty sure that pale look of surprise on his face could only be replicated by someone losing about ten gallons in under five seconds. "But, since it's raining Sabercats and Cu Sith out there, you can keep me company. You don't plan on going back out into that mess, do you?"

He looked from me to the cave entrance, then back again. That monster of a storm just hit, and wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon. He gave a sigh of defeat.

"You win. The both of us are stuck here until the storm eventaully ceases." I decided to sit across from him, to make the ensuing conversation a litle easier on us both.

"You know, you're about the first humanoid demon I've seen set foot here in a long time." That was true. The last demon like him that I'd seen come here was a couple of years back, before the previous Overlord had to go settle matters elsewhere.

"Seriously?" That statement caught his interests. I got him now.

"Seriously. There actually used to be all different kinds of creatures that lived in this Netherworld: you name it, we had it. But, close to five years ago, a good number of the inhabitants here just started disappearing, right after the original Overlord left to go settle matters in another realm."

"Disappearing? You mean, like just vanishing into thin air or something?"

"Exactly. One moment, I'm holding a conversation with one of my good friends, then she just disappears right before my eyes." We never did figure out why this started happening after the previous Overlord had to go settle matters elsewhere. I ended up losing several good friends that day alone. "This just continued on until about two years ago when Brad, our reigning Overlord, took on the mantle and made it his personal mission to restore a lot of what had been lost over those three years." My mood turned sour for a brief moment, and I had every reason for it. "He's done a great job, I can give him that, but he really needs to up the variety in the creatures he's bringing in; well over 90 percent of this netherworld's population is nothing but Felynn and Sabercat demons." My ears flattened as I went into a reasonable sulk. "It really sucks when everyone else basically has the exact same interests as you, looks like you... No diversity whatsoever aside from their backgrounds. This place is basically a netherworld full of mirrors and Clone Panels, you can't tell who's who anymore."

"What about the remaining 10? There's gotta be some level of variety there." Oh, the irony of that.

"Ha, I could only wish that would happen. Mostly, that last tenth is composed of other creatures that are native to the Netherworld; mainly to act as wild game for the others, and not a single freakin' humanoid among them. Hell, aside from you showing up, it's basically eat and sleep all damn day, with the occasional trip or training session peppered in. Most of the really good stuff happens around the central city, and even then, it'll bore you to Prinny reincarnation and back."

"There's a city around here?" News to him. Then again, if he had been hiding in that catnip shipment like the search teams told me, he had to have seen part of it.

"Brad managed to restore some old ruins and buildings from the previous Overlord's reign, and combined it with the technology he's gathered from other worlds. It's rather barebone, mostly just housing and stores, the least he could've done was put an arcade in." Something crossed my mind at that particular moment in time. "Though I hardly ever see him leave the city boundaries while he's on this netherworld; even when he does venture out, he only leaves the bounds long enough to do something, then he goes right back to the city."

"Sounds like he's forced to stay in the boundaries; you think it could be that his life is bound within that area? You know, kinda like what happened to Zetta?"

"No no no, I think it's the other way around... the Netherworld is bound by his life here. If he strays too far out of the bounds while here, this world would start to crumble apart."

"How do you figure that?" Yeah, that does sound like some fuzzy logic, doesn't it?

"...Haven't got a clue, to tell the truth. All I know is bits and pieces of what I heard some of the higher-ups talking about." All right, Q&A session is over. Moving right next to him, it was time to strike up a new conversation, and I knew just where to start. "Well, as long as we're stuck in here, why don't we get to know each other a little better?"

"Say what?" Oh, if I only had a camera to capture that face. It'd sell millions!

"Since we're going to be holed up in here until the rain finally lets up, I figured that this would be the best time to get to know you better. After all, you do plan to be here for a while, don't you? May as well get off on the right foot with someone." Not to toot my own horn or insult anyone else here, but I can be somewhat smarter than the other Felynn.

"As much as I'd like to contest that, you've made a valid point." Wow, that was easily won. "So, exactly what kind of Netherworld was this before the reconstruction?"

"Aside from the restored city, Brad's spaceship, and the fact that there's way too many other Nekomata demons for my personal liking, it's essentially remained the same, except that when the previous Overlord was here, there were a few actual humanoid demons. So, what about where you're from?"

"It's a basically standard Netherworld, with humanoids, monsters, and even a few former residents of Celestia working alongside one another. There really isn't too much that really stands out there." He tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling of the cave. "Though, like I said yesterday, the Overlord started to become a real pain in everyone's asses about three years ago, when she came back from this exploration. She mentioned something beforehand about a..a.. Aw, damn it."

"What's the matter?" He didn't look too happy.

"I can't remember the name of the project she'd been conducting. All I remember of it is that the subject of the research began with the letter D, and it was being conducted in some world that got blown to kingdom come years back due to an invasion."

"Don't worry too much about it, it's was three years ago, right?" He nodded in confirmation. "Anyway, I think you better focus on the present. What are you going to do from here on out? From what I heard from the search squads yesterday, you've made quite the impression on them." Ohoho, more than just an impression was left behind. He's about two more strikes away from having his status bumped up to kill on sight, but he doesn't need to know that right now.... or does he?

"Although I originally said I was going to just leave Sirea's employ, now I'm thinking it was just an extra excuse to get as far away from her as possible, even though I've already gone through with walking out." He looked out at the torrents of rain still falling from the sky. "I'm in a real bind now."

"A bind?" That's one way to describe your predicament.

"Overlord Sirea used to be an excellent Overlord, someone I looked up to and respected, but ever since she came back from that trip, to hell with calling it a downward spiral, the situation just got bad. I couldn't stand it anymore. I suppose I really left so I could make up for everything she neglected to do." After everything he just described, why's he laughing about the situation? "Heh, listen to me complaining about all my personal crap, I almost sound human with those sentiments."

"Why do you say something like that?" Kind of a damnable statement, that's all I'm saying.

"Ah, I'm rambling on again. Happens all the time with me." Man, I really wish I had that camera, to capture all the shades of color his face had turned when his stomach started acting up. "Oh, uhh.... I guess I haven't had too much to eat over the last few hours. Damn thing just doesn't stop." He stood up and headed over to his bag. "You want anything?"

"No thanks. I'm good." Apparently, my own stomach decided to flip me a new one. I'm certain my own face started burning bright red. "Scratch that statement. Any goodies in there?"

"Let me check." I'm guessing he had seen something he wish he hadn't. Explained why he got quiet. "Eeehh.... Say, do you know where I can find a local dumpster or trash bin?"

"Excuse me?" Why would he need to find a place like that?

"You know, a place where I can get rid of some trash? I have a lot of unnecessary stuff I need to dispose of." That explains it.

"The only one I've known about was located inside the city, from the previous Overlord's reign. As far as I know, it was closed off after the power source that kept the city running began to drop severely. Good thing it was closed off, too: the smell from that place is enough to re-kill a swarm of King Zombies.... twice over." I was majorly relieved to find out that Brad had reconstructed the damn thing to keep the smell out of the city air; my normal place is within the vincinity of the site, and I actually had to leave while he was busy with the repairs, hence why I also own this cave. I was actually afraid that I would end up dying of that horrendus stench.

He was busy digging through the bag, finding a good amount of still edible food hiding among the junk. "I knew I picked up some good stuff." As one possible way of repaying me for letting him crash here, he picked out a freshly preserved black bass, one of my favorite human world fish. For himself, two pieces of Taiyaki and and a soda would suffice.

As I tore into my meal, absolutely delighted to have something other than what's normally here, though wishing I'd remembered to keep a fire spell so I could cook my fish, I began to feel a little off... slightly lightheaded. It wasn't anything remotely scary, so I had thought at that moment, but I should've taken a better look at my fish. Thinking nothing of it, I kept on enjoying, until the lightheadedness hit full force.

Right before I ended losing all conscious action, I noticed several small sprigs of the Netherworld catnip in the packaging wrapper the fish came in. I can tell you this, Netherworld catnip is hellishly strong stuff. They say that when one is in a euphoric state, the repressed side of everyone, the id, as someone I knew would've put it, tends to come to the surface. I was no exception. As I could feel the plant taking effect, it was like getting bodyjacked... y'know, kinda like what Baal used to do. I was watching myself do all sorts of embarassing things, and couldn't do a damn thing to stop myself.

"Saaay.." My body had moved itself so that once he looked up from his bag, we'd be looking right into each others' eyes. "I gotta say this upfront. I find you extremely cute." With that little bombshell, he tried to back away, smart kid, but I tackled him to the floor, tail swishing back and forth excitedly. "Wanna play? I know lots of fun games!"

If I had been acting of my own accord, this wouldn't have been so bad. But, of course, I was enslaved to the plant's power, and had to wait until it wore off. I'm pretty sure I ended up giving him one hell of a show, though. Chalk up another thing he'll have to pay me back for.

**End of Chapter 6**

Until Next Chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	7. Chapter 7

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 7: Stay away from the city!

As the effects of the catnip wore off after an hour or so, the Elbacky seemed more than perfectly content to settle down for a catnap, leaving Nelius more than enough time to recuperate from her "playfullness". Like I said earlier, just one of these boundlessly energetic ladies can wear anyone out, even an Overlord.

"Note to self: Never go near netherworld catnip.. ever again!" Sitting a good distance from her, and glad that she had to take a good moment to recharge, he began to think on what he was planning to do next. He already knew that he had to get rid of most of the junk in his bag, but from what she'd told him, the city was crawling with more Felynn, and they might not be as open-minded as this one was.

On another note, he had to consider that jagaur demon: he was the Overlord here, and if he wasn't feeling up to dealing with him, that would leave deportation back to his home netherworld as the final decision, and if it came to that, it'd also mean all his work up until this point would be for nothing. He'd end up back at Sirea's, to be used and abused again.

Looking outside, he noticed that the rain was still falling, but in a lesser amount than a few hours ago, turning into something of a light mist.

'_Not the nicest weather, but I'll take my chances. It should keep the majority of them off the streets_.' Getting to his feet, Nelius grabbed his bag and exited the cave, carefully retracing his steps back toward the greenhouse as he used a wing as an umbrella. '_I think I'll have a better chance if I go it alone. Sorry, kitty cat, nothing personal_.' He figured that as long as it was vacant, he could use the building as a marker point while he made his way through the deeper expanses of trees. Several hours later, when he found the greenhouse in question and the rain picked back up again, he saw something rising out from the trees. '_Now, what's that?_' Going to check on what it was, he was quite amazed at what he found.

"Holy hell, this place is huge." Just a short distance from the greenhouse was the city the Elbacky had told him about. '_How did I pass by here and not even see it?_' As he walked into the city limits, thankful that the downpour kept most of the inhabitants held up in their own places, he took notice of the general layout. Many of the older buildings had similarities to old 5th to 6th century structures, commonplace around the Netherworld, while the recently made ones had a more modern feel, similar to the Human World. Noticibly, several of the older structures had signs plastered on them, each one reading along the lines of "Slated for demolition and rebuilding". Standing right in the middle of the city was a large, towerlike structure; the Overlord's keep, no doubt. There were some street lamps there to illuminate the ciy, but it looked like they weren't working so well, possibly due to the power shortage.

"Oh!" Ducking behind some conviently located boulders next to one of the buildings, he hid himself from view as two Tailrings, maybe the same ones he'd seen on the ship just a day ago, walked by on patrol. Looked like not every feline hated the water. '_At least I know not to ask for directions, but I better be careful from this point on. Now, where'd my bag tumble off to?_' He reached behind himself to grab his fallen bag, but instead grabbed something else. Something.... soft, warm, and quite malleable. '_Doesn't feel like my bag..._'

"Hee hee hee, that tickles." A certain someone giggled.

"Oh, sorry." It was only after he moved his hand away and got his bag that it hit him... "Aw crap."

"Oh, it's no problem. I actually kinda liked it." For those who guessed that the Elbacky from earlier happened to find him, you'd be correct once again. "But I am a bit disappointed in you. I treat you to shelter for the night, and you run off without even saying thanks?" She pressed herself up against him from behind, her face a mix of disappointment and knowing, more the latter than the former. "Well, I see what it is that you're planning, but you'll end up lost without a guide. Lucky thing I'm willing to help you out."

"How do you figure that?" He asked, his eyes looking upward at her as she rested her chin on top of his head. He must be rather comfortable where he is, if he's not moving.... oh wait, she's got a hold of him again.

"This city's damn huge, but I'm sure you already know that. Unless you know exactly where it is you're going, you'll end up running around in circles for days. Believe me, it took me a while to remember the layout of this place, and I basically live here when I'm not at that cave." She winked at him. "So, I take it you plan to head for that sealed off site?"

"Unless I want to walk around with a bag of useless junk, I probably should take the smart option, shouldn't I?" Being released from her grip, he followed her through an intricate part of the city, passing many more old structures marked for demolition and rebuilding. She was explaining about much of the history behind the Netherworld before Brad ressurected the old ruins and began expanding, but his mind was elsewhere; more importantly, his future actions from here on out. '_From what all she's told me, my status is capture on sight. Getting future supplies will be easier said than done, even if she's helping me out_.' A thought crossed his mind as he looked around. '_Is there even a RosenQueen extension around here?_'

"Hey, we may have taken the longer way around, but we're here." She poked him with her elbow, pointing at the large brick structure in front of them. It appeared to have no windows, being thickly built for holding in whatever was in there, and looked as though it couldn't be entered. For an old trash storage site, you couldn't get more secure than this. There were also several air cleaners installed into the walls, to make sure nobody had to deal with the stench again.

"OK, how do I get in?" He had to ask.

"This place was thankfully reconstructed so that whatever goes in never comes out. There's a hatch on the roof, though. Hold on tight." Grabbing a hold of him, she leapt to the rooftop.

**Overlord's Keep**

Brad tapped a claw against the desk as he mulled over the recent reports. So far, the overall power keeping the city and its other extensions afloat was on a slow, steady decline. If this rate continued on, by this time next week they'd run completely out of power.

'_If the last entrance fell underwater, then getting the source back isn't an easy task_.' He gave an audible sigh. '_I'd use the door right below the tower, but that last terraform project warped it shut from this side_.' Now he was wishing he'd thought to hire someone to explore the area below the city when he had the chance. '_Should've taken Jackson's advice_.'

The ringing of his personal cell brought Brad out of his concentrated haze. Reaching over, he saw it was the number of one of his search squads. He flipped it open and answered.

"What is it?"

"Kelly here. Brad, I've got some news you're never going to believe." The Felynn reporting in was another search team leader.

"Try me." He poured one of his special drinks. It usually helped put him in a better mood. '_Ah, stress buster number 5_.'

"All right. You remember that offworld kid from yesterday's bulletin, the one that somehow managed to elude us before that freak storm hit?"

"What about him? Did you find out anything else?" He brought his cup to his lips, started taking a drink...

"Get ready for this one, Fearless Leader, he's inside the city limits, right now." And violently expelled the liquid through his nostrils.

"He, he's here, now?" Due to the liquid getting into his nasal cavities, he was coughing as his eyes started to water. He rubbed his nose, doing his best to clear it out.

"Absolutely, but I haven't even gotten to the funny part yet. You remember that Elbacky we've been having constant problems with?" When he was silent, trying to air out his clogged nostrils from the unexpected news, she continued to explain. "You know, the Elbacky with the uncanny ability to find nearly anyone or anything?"

"You're not talking about Radara, are you?" He thought about her for a moment as he wiped his face with a spare towel another Nekomata had brought him. '_She always did have problems connecting with the other Nekomata and Sabercats ever since I took over for the previous Overlord. I was starting to think she might've been a serious case_.'

"Yeah, I am talking about her, and she's all over him. It's friggin' hilarious, yet enviable." The look on his face said it all. "Anyhow, the kid and his newfound girlfriend are headed for that sealed off trash-conversion structure. Looks like he has to get rid of some items of his own."

'_So, he walked right in, of his own accord. Couldn't be any more perfect._' "Thanks for the report, Kelly. I'll be taking care of him personally. Make sure to keep tabs on their activity until I arrive." As he closed the cell, he took another look at the documents on his desk before getting up from his seat, opening up the window and leaping out into the rain.

**Back to Nelius and Radara **

On top of the structure, the Elbacky known to us all as Radara unlocked the hatch and swung it open while Nelius sifted through his bag so he could dump out all of the wrappers and other trash that had accumulated. Almost instantly, the smell assaulted her senses, and she scrunched up her face in disgust.

"Hurry it up, will you? If this funk ends up on my fur, you're the one paying for the deep cleaning." She held the hatch open with one paw as she held the other one over her nose.

"Quit bitching, will ya? I'm almost done." Sifting through the bag, he extracted his Journal, pillow, blanket and what remained of his salvageable food and other supplies before dumping everything else into the old structure, then placed the aformentioned items back into his bag and slung it over his back. A little wet from the rain, but all in all, everything's good. "Finally, that's that. Let's get out of here before we get spotted." With his statement, she gladly closed and re-locked the hatch before using one arm to grab him around the waist. In an instant, she jumped down and set him on the ground. Oh, and that all was within seconds. "Next time, give me a heads up before you go and do that!" His voice was rather shaky.

"Well, loathe as I am to admit it, this Netherworld was altered and rebuilt with the idea of us cat-type demons in mind." Radara reminded him as they began heading for the nearest exit out of the city, unaware of the fact that they had been seen several times over. "You're going to need some serious training if you want to be able to keep up with me--- er, us." Good thing her little slip-up went right over his head.

"Once again, you've made a valid point. Hell, most of the reason I came here was to get myself back into shape. First question is, where should I start?" Fateful words, Nelius. Neither of them had noticed the figures appraoching them from behind, and one of them was significantly larger than the rest. "You got any good ideas?"

"You can start by answering to me." A gigantic paw, large enough to close around Nelius' head, clamped down right on his shoulder. Turning around, the odd pair came to face a large jaguar; the Overlord, Brad, and he was flanked by more of his vassals. "So, you're the one who climbed aboard my ship; illegally, at that."

'_Mother of all Fuc-- he's huge!!_' Nelius was only about five foot three, Radara about four inches taller than him, but Brad was easily close to seven feet tall.

"O-overlord Brad?!" Radara herself barely managed to squeak. This had been the first time she'd seen him this close in person. Luckily she wasn't the one being targeted.

"I'd never imagine that one young demon could cause such a commotion in a single day." He eyed Nelius. "Though we've had nobody like yourself step foot on this Netherworld in several years, you've actually caught me in the midst of a problem, so you could say..." He purposefully let the end of the sentence hang for a moment. "I'm feeling generous today."

If there's one thing Nelius didn't like, it was the look on Brad's face. '_I hate to think about what he calls generous_.'

"Come with me. You and I have much to discuss." He began walking toward the center of town. "Don't even think of trying to run away, this whole block's already cornered off." To accentuate the point, several thousand more Felynn popped up from out of nowhere, blocking off all other paths except for the one Brad was taking. So much for that. He briefly considered trying to fly off, but his wings still needed some more exercise and re-conditoning before they could completely support him again.

Before he could've come up with a third option, two other Felynn came up from behind him, and started marching him along. Some would think that they each hefted him up by an arm and carried him behind Brad; others believe the two prodded him from behind, forcing him to move.

**Overlord Brad's Keep**

Inside of the Overlord's Keep, many thoughts were running through Nelius' mind, and most of them ended along the lines of "Game over before it could start." As he walked down the hall, following Brad, he tried to take his mind off of the current situation by glancing around at the sides of the hall, seeing several other Felynn, along with a minute number of other monsters, working on things inside of the other rooms. They paused for a moment to take a look at Nelius, then went straight back to work. Diligent, ain't they? He also noticed a large set of double doors down another hallway, but the mystery of those would have to wait.

"Go on through this door." Brad paused at a door before heading off down a different hall. "I'll see you on the other side soon enough."

Shrugging, Nelius opened the door and stepped in, revealing a room filled to the brim with nothing but Felynn and Sabercats, apparently acting as some form of jury. All eyes were on him as he stepped in.

'_Oh great, more catnip addicts doing jury duty_.' He deadpanned. '_Maybe I should've kept some of that catnip around as bribery_.'

True to his word earlier, Brad entered into the room from the opposite set of doors about a minute later, seating himself immediately. He had a small stack of papers in a massive paw and was leafing through them; a report of what all had happened yesterday, no doubt. When he set them down about three minutes later, he got straight to the matter at hand.

"Now, then. I believe you owe us all an explaination." He was straight to the point. "What made you decide to store aboard my vessel, especially in a valuable box of catnip?"

"Back home, servitude underneath the Overlord was a pain. My options boiled down to two choices: either play stow away or continue on with a life of forced labor. I'm sure you can tell which was the smarter option in my case." Though sarcastic, he had answered truthfully.

"Care to elaborate on that statement?" He didn't look too amused by Nelius' answer. "You're already in enough danger as it is."

"Look, around three years ago, the Overlord of the Netherworld I came from started to become a real bitch--" He noticed that the majority of the jury seemed to take offense to his statement. "Hey, I don't mean to offend anyone by how I worded that, but that's just how it ended up." Brad's expression changed to one of curiousity. "I had enough of her bullshit, and decided it was time to seek employment elsewhere. I didn't really care for the details as far as whoever else it'd be that I had to work with, just so long as I got as far away from that bitch as demonically possible." At this point, many of the other cat demons began to talk amongst themselves in light of this new information. "And considering the fact that you're taking time out of your own schedule to listen to my side of all this, I obviously picked the right ship to jump aboard."

"That does explain your recent actions. Still, how do you account for the trouble and damages you've caused?"

"I doubt any simple '_Kiss and make up_' would cover what all happened. You and I both know there's only one way to exonerate myself at the end of all this." He shrugged. '_That's pretty much all I could do back when I was working under Queen Bitch back home_.' An unnerving silence followed for several minutes as the jury deliberated.

From the almagation of cat demons, one of them, another Sabercat, was forced to get himself up from the lap of another Felynn and walk up to Brad, handing him a slip of paper with their final verdict. The Overlord took it, looking it over, then nodded. The decision had been made.

"Well this is a surprise. Despite the events of yesterday, and the half and half desecration of perfectly good catnip, damn you, your story won them over. You have been permitted to stay here, but there is one small stipulation to this."

"I figured that was gonna be happening. Nothing comes free, after all. So, new boss, what am I gonna be doing?"

"As you probably know, the majority of feline species have a rather intense dislike for water, some even lacking the ability to swim."

"Not to sound rude or anything, but can you cut to the chase?"

"Very well. Right underneath this city, there is an underground realm that the previous Overlord made his base of operations. The reason for his choice was a powerful energy source that only formed in the caverns down there. Unfortunately, three of the above-ground entrances into that realm fell underwater while I was busy reconstructing the above-world here to better suit us, and the fourth entrance is only openable from the other side, due to the door warping and deforming. I've had everyone push against the door, but it wouldn't move a single centimeter. Pulling it from this side was a no go as well."

"I see what it is you're getting at. I swim through one of the three entrances, find the fourth one and open it up from that side. That about cover it?"

"You catch on rather quick. Any other questions?"

"Only one other. When does this start?"

"Tomorrow morning." The jury dismissed, Brad got up from his seat. "Come. I'll show you to a spare room for tonight."

**MAKAI!**

Nelius Journal Log August 22, 33XX

_This place is nowhere near as bad as I would've initially imagined. Despite having mostly Felynn and Sabercats, they're actually good-natured, if not a little teasing at times. It seems I have an uncanny nature to speak too soon about a lot of things. Foot-in-mouth syndrome, I think they call it._

_Even with all the trouble I've caused since yesterday, I've been permitted to roost here, but I gotta do a little task first. Beats out whatever crap Sirea would've had planned for me._

_My "Redemption" mission as of tomorow is to swim through one of three submerged entrances to an underground realm so I can open up the only other way in that isn't waterlogged. Now that I have a moment to give it some thought, I never did find out why cats can't stand getting wet; I guess it's just something they can't explain. I'm willing to bet that the extra weight on their fur boggs them down, kinda like when most human owners try to dress up their housecats._

_Strangely, the Overlord here reminds me of someone I met once. It's faint, but the personalities match up. Makes me wish I had this guy for a boss earlier on in my life._

**Nelius' new digs**

The room Brad had allowed me to use for the night felt more like a seven-star hotel suite. With a full bedroom, bathroom, nether-satellite TV (over 37,000 channels, natch), and a kitchen stocked with nearly every kind of snack and delicacy known throughout the Netherworlds, there was nothing I could complain about... scratch that. I had one question earlier.

"No disrepect or anything, but why the hell is the bed round?"

"It's because we cats curl up at night as we sleep." Brad pointed this out before he left to attend other matters. "Don't forget, this world was reconstructed to better suit us."

'_No way in hell I can argue with that logic, so I shouldn't make too much of a deal out of it_.' I flopped backward onto the mattress, reveling in how much more comfortable it was compared to the room I had back at Sirea's. _'Even if it's only for tonight, this place is pretty much paradise compared to back there_.' Ah, the night air here's a whole hell of a lot cleaner too. '_Speaking of Queen Bitch, what was it that caused her to suddenly change from likeable to completely despicable? Either way, I'm here, she's over there, it's nothing worth worrying about now_.'

Well, that was only half true. I no longer had to worry about whatever bitch-ism she'd come up with, but I did have to get prepared for my mission tomorrow.

**End of Chapter 7**

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	8. Chapter 8

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborugh

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 8: I'm beginning the Mission!

Nelius awoke with the rising sun of Brad's Netherworld, hardly ready to get his exploration underway. He tossed the covers aside before finally willing himself out of his bed.

From what he remembered of his mission today, he was to go diving through one of three underwater entranceways which would lead him to the old ruins beneath the city, the previous Overlord's base. From there, he would open the only above ground entrance so Brad's forces would be able to extract the special energy source that was located down there.

'_Good thing I took the time to learn how to swim_.' He thought as he did a few morning stretches, loosening up his tired muscles, including his wings. '_This energy source better be well worth the trouble I'm going through to access it_.' With his muscles warmed up, he made his way into the kitchen. "Now, let's see if I remember how to.."

**Castle Sirea**

Back in Nelius' home Netherworld, the search for him had stalled. With zero leads, the searches felt more like a wild Mothman chase than a demonhunt. Needless to say, Sirea was steadily growing furious, going off into random tirades that often obliterated several parts of the castle. The repair team was being kept on their feet nearly 24/7 for the past week.

"Sirea?" A lone thief was the only one brave enough to address her. Everyone else was a chickenshit, and with good reason.

"This better be important." She snapped back.

"I.. I found some information on his last seen whereabouts." This new development brought Sirea's temper to a quick stop. "Sometime yesterday, the RosenQueen merchant from Midnight informed me that someone who looked like Nelius entered in and purchased about 27,000 Hell worth in supplies. After that, he left the town, heading eastward."

"Good. It's about time." She turned her head toward a scout who had found a corner to stand in. "Zach. Send a message to the units I have stationed in Midnight. Tell them to leave nothing unturned." The scout, not wanting to make his Overlord angry, was up and out of the room in the blink of an eye. "As for the rest of you-" She turned back to her other vassals. "- Don't just stand there! Spread out and continue searching for that traitor!" In less that two seconds the hall was devoid of any other vassals that didn't have a designated job. With them gone, Sirea rose from her throne and stood out on her balcony, overlooking a great deal of this Netherworld. '_Damn it all. I got too careless_.'

"He is a crafty one, isn't he?" Sirea, alerted by the sound of a new voice, turned around on the spot to see a young man with light-colored hair floating there lazily. "Knowing how to make himself scarce, sneaking out from underneath you... I have to commend him. A kid after my own heart." He crunched down on a pretzel stick. "Wow, these are good. Care for one?" He handed one out, a smile constantly on his face.

"And just who the hell are you?" Her temper flared up at seeing this man act so calm. "What business do you have here?"

"Simple, I'm just here to piss a little wisdom on you, dipshit." He crunched down on another stick. "At this rate you're going, you'll never locate him. Face it, he's long out of your reach."

"What makes you figure that?" She began to approach him. "Are you withholding information?"

"Why, not at all." He just grinned. "I certainly don't know of his wherabouts, certainly not about him running past...Oops!" A hand went to his mouth. "I almost let it slip. Silly me."

"Stop pissing around and start talking." Her hand went toward an Infernal Blade she kept. "Or I'll chop you up and serve you to the Great Wyrms out back."

"Oh, if it's information you want, you can take this clue and shove it up your ass, bitch." He stepped back, bringing his unoccupied left hand up as he flipped her off. "You best watch your own actions from here on. One of them will be your undoing."

She withdrew the blade and sliced at him, but she'd been too slow. All he did was move out of the way at an extreme speed, and he had some passing words for her:

"Missed me!" He popped back within range, just to moon her. Pardon a very bad pun, but ain't he a cheeky devil? "Now kiss it!"

**Nelius' room**

His stomach content for the time being, Nelius noticed that he didn't bring much that would be appropriate for a swimming mission.

'_Eh, a slight oversight on my part. I'll just have to improvise_.'

As he headed over to get his father's gauntlet, having removed it before going to bed, he noticed that he'd left the window open. It wasn't a very large gap, but all it would've taken was a bit more pushing for someone to easily walk right in.

'_No wonder it was so chilly the other night, I forgot to close the window_.' As he walked over to shut the window, he heard a knock at his door. "Door's open." In walked a Nekomata carrying some kind of hand-sized box.

"This just arrived, with your name on it. Speaking of which, does anyone from your home know you're here, considering that you ran away?" She questioned.

"As far as I know, I'm the only one who knows I'm here. Either way, I'll take that." Taking the box from her and giving a thanks, she left as he opened it up, revealing a white sphere. Enclosed with it was some type of note. "What's this all about?" He opened the note and began reading.

**MAKAI! **

_Nelius,_

_It's a relief to see that these past few days have found you well, and I can only wish the same could be said back here. Sirea recently found out about your disappearance, and has been ripping your home Netherworld apart in a bid to find you. Hell if I can comprehend as to why she is after you specifically, but something tells that she's got some kind of plan for you, almost as if she knows something she neglected to warn you about. _

_She's put up hundreds of wanted bulletins all around, calling you a traitor who ran off with one of her possessions. Stay healthy, good friend, and start hoping Brad doesn't find out. If he does, though, better convince him otherwise._

_Enclosed in this package is one of two special artifacts I managed to swipe while nobody was looking. Although I regret not being able to be here in person to explain its ability, I do have confidence that you will figure out this item's significance. You'll be needing this far more than I will. Enjoy._

_Your Brother In arms,_

_Uncle D _

**Back to Nelius**

"Uncle... D? Who the frick? How'd this.... guy even know I was here?" Shrugging, and deciding to figure this all out later, Nelius pocketed the sphere and stepped out of his room, heading downstairs and outside, where a ship that would function as transport would send him to his location. '_Besides, what did I steal from Queen Bitch anyway? Yeah, there's the initial food, and all the other stuff, but that can be replaced, easy._'

"Well, you getting in or what?" The driver of the ship, oddly enough a Wood Golem, broke his concentration. From the tone of his voice, he'd been sitting there for a while.

"Whoa, never knew Wood Golems could drive." Nelius was quite surprised.

"Don't ask, just get in already." With Nelius boarding, the ship was already on its way toward the drop off point. '_This is no way for an old driver like me to make a living_.'

"Ah, you must be the new guy." A Ghost greeted Nelius.

"What was your first clue?"

"I suppose Brad already gave you the basics of this mission the other day, so I'll be right to the point. There's something else he'd like for you to do while you're down there."

"What else am I going to be doing? Is there something he forgot to tell me?"

"Several, as a matter of fact. First off, the entrance we're heading to, on the south end, happens to be the furthest from the city, mostly because it's the only one that doesn't have an underwater current that'll rip you to shreds. Second off, the underground city may have been filled with monsters since his last exploration, so Brad took it upon himself to provide you with this." He handed what appeared to be a set of armor over to the young demon. "This is a custom made lightweight Majin Armor with a special rebreathing device. It's not as protective as a normal, store-bought set, but it'll keep you from sinking and choking, since the underwater passage may be somewhat long. Oh, and before I forget..." The ghost handed over a watch. "This watch, all waterproof by the way, has a special map-creation device, so you can chart the underground area while you're down there."

"Any particular reason why I'm charting it?"

"Well, the place may have significantly changed up from the last time Brad managed to head down there on his own. Every time he reforms the above ground city, the underground area also changes up. We haven't any idea on what might be down there this time around."

"Good point." By the time he got the armor fitted and the watch attached, the ship had stopped at the drop off point, which was on the far south side. "So, I take it we're here."

"I'll not waste anymore time, best of luck." With that, Nelius climbed onto the roof of the transport vehicle, took a running leap, then dove into the water. The second he hit the water, the device moved over his face, giving him clearer visability as well as air to breathe.

**Nelius POV**

For a good five minutes, I was swimming, taking in note of the place. It was just as Brad had told me: the land around this passage was heavily eroded away, a side effect of his reconstruction efforts. Another fifteen minutes later, and I finally broke the surface of the water, now inside the former base. With thanks to the darkness sphere I got back on my home Netherworld, I managed to take a look at the underground area. All around, there were hundreds of ruined structures, and it looked like there wasn't anyone home.

'_Bet anything they're in hiding, or asleep_.' I cautiously stepped out of the water and began walking through the ruins, keeping my eyes open for any sights of monsters. I turned my attention to the watch the ghost gave me. "How do I work this thing?" Pressing a series of buttons on the thing, I apparently hit the right one, as a hologram appeared, showing the relatively small area I currently had mapped out. With only the entrance I used and the few local structures on the map, I had a _lot_ of walking to do. The whole underground city was as large as the one topside, if not larger. "This is gonna be an all day deal. Magog damn that overgrown furball." I'm willing to bet he sneezed up there; he deserved it.

I'd tell you about what all else I discovered down here, but it's all just old building constructs down here, so I'm going to do us all a favor and jump ahead two hours later, to where I had fleshed out a respectable amount of the area, marking down hundreds of abandoned structures and finding the other two underwater passages to the northeast and northwest, but I was still missing the only above ground one. So far, I hadn't encountered any real problems, other than a lack of that necessary last path.

Considering that I was looking for a passageway that would take me topside, it was time to switch tactics, and so I started to search around a few of the aformentioned buildings for any secret buttons, hoping that one of the taller ones would lead upward, but of course, this is me we're talking about here, so no such luck. Another hour and thirty minutes later, and I'd exhausted each of the tallest ones in the area, finding absolutely nothing. "Damn it!" In retrospect, I should've kept a better lid on my temper. My outburst, culminating with an agitated fist strike to the side of one of the structures, didn't uncover the path but instead woke a Serpent, a cousin to the Dragon, who was quite annoyed to be awoken from his nap.

Now Serpents, though related to the Dragon, are better described as giant walking sharks. In place of wings, they've got large flippers they often use to assist them in jumping, much like a Dragon's own wings, and they can _jump_. Like the Dragon, they often attack via biting, but unlike their scaly cousins, they have rows upon rows of teeth, easily capable of tearing up anything unfortunate enough to get caught in their mouths. Oh, and before I forget, they've got their own kind of breath attacks; instead of fire, theirs is more corrosive and acidic.

"What was that?" Having heard the overgrown shark roar at me, I had about a second before its breath would reduce me to a pile of dust. Next thing I knew, I was a good twenty meters away from the impact without a single scratch. "The Netherburst again..." I didn't have much time to wonder how I pulled that off, mostly because the giant shark demon was heading straight for me. With another roar, it exhaled even more acidic breath, making sure that I wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time.

Bracing myself, it came as quite the surprise when I eventually noticed that I felt the impact from the blast, but I wasn't being melted to the bone. I looked up, and saw my own wings covering me, acting like some sort of shell or wall. "Wha... like that dream?" I must have pissed that thing off, because the Serpent had apparently decided that if its breath wouldn't work, then its teeth would. Choosing to have lunch early, it began running toward me, ready to tear me a new one. Finally uncovered, I saw the monster charging in, and I had an idea.

Right as anchovie breath tried to devour me whole, I flipped backwards, launched myself into the air, and began quickly charging up energy in my hands. About a second later, I fired it as a punishing beam of explosive energy-- the Lion's Roar fist technique. The Serpent was paralyzed by the beam, then knocked senseless by the inevitable explosion.

When the dust settled, the violent beast was on its back, barely breathing.

'_Must've been knocked unconscious. No way he could've died from that attack_.' I had a mission to finish, and I didn't bother to stick around to see if sushi-for-brains here was alive or not. If I had been any stronger, I probably could've made fish patties out of him.

_'WHOA!'_ My left foot snagged something, and over I fell, hitting the ground quite forcefully. Uncovering the dust on the ground, I made a discovery: there was a set of mine cart tracks beneath the settled dirt-- from the previous Overlord's reign, no doubt. Question is, would they lead me back up to the surface or further down, toward the source Brad wished to extract?

"Decisions aren't made through hesitations." Choosing to head to my right, I got to my feet, dusted myself off, and followed the tracks as they lead me further down.

**Overlord's Keep, Netherworld Office**

Back at the Overlord's Office, Brad was starting to grow impatient.

"Four hours now, and still no word on his progress." Despite his current workload, which had been focusing on several short-term solutions to the energy shortage that had been in effect for the past few months, his mind was still fixated on Nelius' mission. "What the hell could be taking him so long? I didn't take this long just to find the energy source the first time around." He tapped a claw against the desk.

"Well, those ruins are the same size as the city is." A Mothman who was working with the Ovelord commented. "I'm willing to bet that he's either lost or dead, eaten by one of the monsters underground. Such a sad fate, and we barely knew him."

"I thought you were supposed to be the optomistic one here?"

"Hey, I tell it like it is. No sense in keeping hopes up too high." He looked out the window. "If he doesn't make it out of there within the next two hours, should we hold a flashy funeral, or just consider him M.I.A.?" Brad gave him a look that told him to be quiet. "What?"

"Five seconds. Start running."

**Underground Cavern**

A low whistle of amazement escaped my lips as I took in the sight before me. The set of tracks had lead me down to a cavern completely overrun with large, rosy crystals.

'_This must be the energy source Brad was going on about. I can already feel the power coming off of those things_.' Placing a hand over one of the nearby crystals, I could feel enormous amounts of power pulsating from them. '_Convert this to mana power, and it would shoot a normal demon right past Overlord status_.' Pocketing three of the loose crystals, I turned around and began following the tracks back the same way I came.

Come an hour or two later, the tracks began leading upward toward the surface. It was a long, winding spiral climb before I finally reached the exit.

"Now I can get out of here. I've wandered down here long enough." Seeing a large set of double doors where the tracks ended, I noticed an odd insignia on it; it appeared to be some kind of blue six-pointed star, though the downward spike was significantly longer than the others. '_Must be the crest of the previous Overlord_.' Raising my arm, I began to push on the right door. When this didn't work, I put my other arm to work. When this door firmly remained shut, I looked up, and saw the deformity caused by Brad's reconstruction efforts.

'_No wonder_.' It was time to try the left door instead, and I placed all of my effort into it. Push finally came to shove, as the old door slowly began to creak open, dust settling everywhere. Imagine the surprise on my face when I realized where I had ended up.

"Good to see you alive... Nelius, I believe it was." Brad was standing right there. "I suppose you're wanting some sort of congratulatory prize now."

"You didn't tell me the last route was through here." Now I recognized where I ended up. I was inside the back end of the Overlord's tower, at the same doors I had seen moments before Brad's trial yesterday.

"But, I did say it was above ground, didn't I?" Again, I can't argue with his logic. "Regardless of all that, you've helped bring an end to the energy shortage we've been facing for several months. With this route finally open, we can begin mining the crystals that grow within that city."

"You talking about these?" I pulled out the three I swiped before I ended up coming back up here.

"Exactly those. But first, come with me. Bring those with you." Turning around, Brad began heading for the higher floors, and I followed suit. Once there, the upright jaguar motioned for me to follow him to his personal office, where he took a paper document that had been on his desk, and handed it to me. "I just need for you to place a fingerprint on this document. Oh, and I'll also need those crystals and the watch." I handed the items over, like it would do me much good now, placed my thumb fingerprint on the document, and an image of the six-pointed star appeared for a moment before dispersing.

'_Guess it's his crest as well. That Elbacky did say Brad took over for the previous ruler._ '

"With this, you are officially considered a citizen of this Netherworld. You need not worry about hiding out anymore."

"Works for me." One step closer to my own goals. Now that I'm considered a citzen of this Netherworld, at least I won't have to worry about being randomly jumped for being an offworlder.

The moment I arrived at the room Brad let me use, I wasted no time in closing the door before removing the armor and flopping down on my bed. After all that crazy crap, I didn't care about the fact that it was still broad daylight outside, I deserved a good rest before I felt up to doing anything else.

'_Finally. I finally got my freedom back_.'

**End of chapter 8 **

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	9. Chapter 9

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 9: Face your fear, Brad!

As the sun of this Netherworld set, and everyone who wanted to head to bed went right ahead and did so, Nelius found himself immersed in his dreams, and today he was standing in front of what appeared to have been an old shrine or temple, but if you were to get a better look at the place, you'd swear that someone decided to wage war here.

'_Where am I now?_' He can wonder all he wants, any answers went on vacation. He stepped into the temple, seeing the ruined walls, almost as if a battle had been going on here, and whoever was trying to defend it lost. Only the back wall remained intact: the mural on it depicted some kind of distorted-looking winged being confronted by two different people.

'_Yeah, this is just weird. I think someone's messing with my mind again._' Upon taking a closer look at the mural on the wall, he could barely make out feathers in two of the wings of the being. As for the pair confronting it, one looked completely indescribable, while the other had something of a radiance around him or her. '_Oh great, let's play spot the symbolism_.'

In the real world, he rolled over from one side to the other, burrowing his head into his pillow, which, all of a sudden, became a lot softer and warmer to the touch. '_Hang on, did my pillow just start to purr?_' He extended a hand to feel...

"Would you look at this, I think he likes me too!" A familiar voice chirped. "That makes it mutual then!" That was enough for Nelius to open his eyes to open at an incredible speed as he looked at his "pillow". "Hi there, enjoy your nap?"

"Holy Crap!!" Startled, he ended up falling off the side of the bed. He eventually got back up, and came face to face with Radara. "Okay, how in the hell did you get in here?"

"Oh, you happened to leave the window open." She answered nonchalantly as she pointed over to the window in question. "So I let myself in. You didn't seem to mind."

"Hold it right there. I know for a fact that I closed the window before I did the mission."

"You never locked the window. Next time, you might want to consider that." Boy, I'll bet you anything that he felt like an idiot now, as his head hung in shame. "All joking aside, what exactly did you mean by mission?" His head came back up. "Speaking of which, what exactly did happen to you the other day?"

"I inevitably had to spill about why I came here. Even though Grand Fur-Bah said I could stay, I had to work for it, in order to make up for all of the previous events."

"Made you go underground, right? I overheard it from several members of Brad's jury."

"Since I'm the only one here who wouldn't be bothered by going for a long dip, of course I was chosen. Took me way longer than what I'd initially imagined it would take, though."

"Explains what I heard some of the jury members started placing bets on earlier."

"Oh, that's real nice to know. At least I don't have to worry about being attacked anymore."

"Really? How so?" Now a look of interest crossed her face, but he hadn't noticed, since he was looking at something on the floor.

"After opening up that final route, I officially earned my freedom. Brad granted me full citizenship." When he looked up toward her, he noticed she was gone. '_She leave already?_' Oh, she left... his field of vision.

"So, now you're a free demon?" Now her voice was coming from behind him. When he whirled around, there she was, a mischevious glint ever present in her eyes, and if we know people around the Netherworld, whenever that glint appears, you know something's about to go down.

'_When did she get off the bed? For that matter--_' He tried to put a little space between them, but he'd been too slow. In a flash, she tackled him to the bed, her paws holding him down by his shoulders. "Hey! What the hell are you--" He was silenced by the look on her face.

"That's better." Her face was dangerously close to his, but that wasn't the only thing rather close. "You know, now that you have all this free time, what say that you and I.." The twisting of the doorknob attracted their attention as it swung open.

"Ah, Mr. Nelius, someone was here to..." Another Nekomata was standing in the doorway, a look of utter surprise across on her face. "Oh, I see you've already met. Never mind, I'll be on my way now." With a cheerful air, she closed the door and sauntered off down the hall. Three doors down the hall later, and the facade dropped. '_Not even three days he's been here and she's already snagged him? How the friggin' hell did she do it?!!_'

"Well, that was awkward, but anyway, as I was..." She cut herself off as her right ear twitched for a minute. "Oh, what a time for a mood killer." She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "I'll see you later, cutie." She winked at him before flipping off of the bed, opening his window and leaping off into the night.

He slid off of the bed, his heart racing so fast it nearly threatened to burst out of his chest. He let out one very shaky breath.

'_Oh yes, I'm wide awake now. No way I can go back to sleep after that performance_.'

**City Limits**

"I was right. Brad did have a RosenQueen extension here." Nelius exited the aformentioned {_We carry anything and everything_} store. '_That cashier was acting a little weird, though._' He knew that he had a lot to do if he wanted to make up for his former boss' neglect, and wondering about the cashier wasn't on that list.

Knowing that there was more to this Netherworld than just the Felynn inhabitants, he decided to buy himself another gauntlet for his right hand, in case he did have to fight. In direct comparison to his Shatter Gauntlet, this one was largely used more for defense than attacking. Most everyone else was alseep, so he decided to go this one alone.

Having already traveled a good distance north from the town, he got set to begin trying that wing shifting he'd performed by pure accident, when he heard something rustling nearby.

'_Now what was that?_' Keeping his guard up, he took a quick peek through some foilage. Standing in the small clearing, and looking around impatiently, was the strangest Nekomata he'd seen yet. Her hair was a dark pink, very close to red in color, and her fur was a slinky black, almost making her invisible in the night. To top it off, her eyes had the most piercing shade of red available to most demons. She looked around the area again, growling something about incompetent hirelings before heading in the direction of town.

'_Must be a new arrival_.' Nelius thought. '_That Elbacky did say that Brad brings in Felynn classes the most... Oh well. None of my concern_.' As he headed further north, the appearance of that Nekomata still nagged at his mind. '_Still, something tells me that I've seen that color scheme somewhere else before.._' A little further along, and he happened to come upon a group of the most iconic netherworld monsters. They appeared to be stuffed penguins with demon wings and peg legs. They also had stitches and patches on their chests, and each one had a pouch bag in front of their stomachs.

"Just what are Prinnies doing on this world?" Nelius questioned, approaching the purple birds. One Prinny turned towards him, and was relieved to see it was a guy this time.

"Finally, someone who's not gonna make a scratching post out of us, dood."

"You see, we happen to be looking for someone, and everyone else thinks we're walking, talking toys, dood. Can you help a Prinny out?" A second one asked.

"Depends. Who are you guys looking for?"

"Our current employer. She has black fur and pink hair; no way you could miss her around here, dood."

"We got separated after being gated here from another Netherworld, dood."

"Well, you're in luck, then. I just saw her run off that a'way a moment ago." Nelius pointed behind himself. "If you guys hurry, you should be able to catch up."

"Thanks, man. See you later, dood." The Prinnies thanked him before running off.

"Huh, does Brad allow Prinnies on this world as well?" He just watched as they ran off, trying to catch up to their boss. "I'll ask him about that when I get the chance." As he turned around to continue walking... well, you can pretty much set your watch by this event...

"You know, you and I have to stop meeting like this." Yep, the poor guy walked right into that one, face meeting ample chest once more. "And yes, Prinnies are allowed around here. How else does he get most of his work done? Nine out of ten of them said he was a way better employer than their last boss."

Nelius freed himself from Radara's ironclad grip much easier than the last few times. Looks like he was getting somewhat stronger. "OK, what are you after this time?"

"Who? Me? After something? From you?" She was playing the innocent act, complete with voice tone and eye-rolling. "Why could you ever ask such a question of me?" Nelius, however, wasn't too willing to play along.

"Cut the crap. I highly doubt you're on a leisurely stroll, all the way out here, so spill."

"Fine, if I must. Brad asked me to come fetch you. He sounded rather urgent about what he wanted to ask you about."

"Oh, this ought to be interesting." They started heading back toward the city.

**Brad's Office**

"Good to see the both of you could make it." Brad greeted as they walked into his room.

"Ok, cut to the chase, just what is it you wanted to see me about?" Nelius was getting straight to the point.

"I have a request for the both of you."

"That was fast. So, what do you want me to do now?"

"Simple." He practically leaped over the desk, grabbing onto the front of Nelius' shirt, his face changing to a pleading look. "YOU GOTTA HELP ME!"

Concerned, but mostly freaked out at this sudden change in Brad's demeanor, the non-Felynn demon could barely do much minus ask. "Hey, just what has you scared shitless now?!"

"It's... it's..."

"Yes?"

"It's... it's..."

"Yeeesssss?"

"It's..."

"Out with it, Commander Catnap!"

"_Her_." He finally let go of Nelius, his terrified eyes staring off into blank space.

"Her?" Nelius looked over to Radara, then back. "Granted, she freaks me out a little.." This earned him a furry fist upside the back of his head.

"No, not Radara. _Her_." Once again, that terrified stare.

"Her who? Give us some details, man." He rubbed the area of his head that had been impacted from Radara's fist. '_That little bitch..._'

"You see, it was close to five centuries ago, but this girl I was acquainted with managed to save me from ending up six feet under via sixty-thousand degrees above."

"In other words, saved your life. All right, go on." Now Nelius had a notepad, taking down notes. "Let's get to the root of all this." Now he just needed a pair of specs and a couch. Brad had gotten up from his chair and went to go look out the window.

"Well, I repayed her in the only way I could at that time, by giving her a sample of a highly rare mineral that used to form on my home Netherworld."

"And just how does this relate to the problem?"

"I'm getting to that part, don't rush me!" Brad snapped as he turned to them, and the two stepped back slightly. "Anyway, about a century or so after that, I began to notice that she's been following me around. At first, I'm not thinking anything of it, but that was my own mistake. I should've done something when I had the chance."

"Do tell, do tell."

"Before I can even register what the hell's going on, she gets this crazy idea from nowhere that we're an item, starts getting way too clingy for my liking, and even started trying to set up marriage proposals!" Cue some shocked expressions. "Honestly, at that time, I wasn't even considering getting hitched!"

"All that stems from you repaying her for saving your life?!" Nelius couldn't believe it. "Damn, I've heard of persistent people, but I know that's just taking it way too far."

"You're not telling me anything new. Five centuries of this crap, and she still hasn't gotten the message."

"Say, what was so important about that mineral you gave her?" Radara had to ask. "Especially if she's giving you this kind of trouble?"

"When I had a moment to myself, I did some research on the mineral in question." His head just hung forward. "I later found out that said mineral..."

"Go on. The mineral..."

"Actually turned out to be a special type of rare gemstone that is given between people who share an emotional bond." Epic facepalms all around.

"Great, I see where this went. A misinterpreted act of kindness blown completely out of proportion. Go figure." He tossed the pad and pencil over his shoulder, smacking a passing Sabercat in the face with both items. "But, there's a part of the big picture that's missing here. How exactly are any of us supposed to know who it is we're supposed to be stopping if we don't know that much about mystery girl here? If I had a description of what she looked like, I might be able to help you a little better."

"Oh, that's easy. Over here." Brad, having headed back to his desk, picked up a handheld device and scrolled through a folder, opening a file with a matching picture. As Nelius went to take a look at said document, a yarnball whiffed right by his head. "This file has all the information on her that I've collected so far, and the picture has an estimation on her latest known appearance."

"Let's see what we have here... hired several Prinnies, dresses in black, has light red hair... hold on a minute. This sounds way too much like that Demon Lord from the Veldime incident four centuries ago, what's her face..." He then opened up the picture, and recognized the figure. "Oh yeah, Etna." That was when it hit him. '_Duh! Of all the times to remember this...._'

"Hm?" Brad took a closer look at the file. "Whoops, sorry! Wrong information." He took the device back, closing this file and, after taking a minute to search through, opened up the correct ones. This time, as Nelius reached over, a throwing axe whizzed right overtop their heads, though neither of them noticed either of them missing a few hairs. "Here's the correct information." Nelius started reading through it, even making sure to view the picture that was attached.

"Say, exactly how accurate are these files?"

"I've got a lot of old friends I keep in touch with, and they provide me with regular information."

"Well, apparently one of your informants was right on the money today." Brad looked apprehensive, though Nelius didn't notice. "According to this stuff, I just saw your girl about an hour or two ago. It was right before.. you..." When he looked up from the device, Brad was gone, and all that was left was a detailed dotted outline. "What the..."

"Poor guy bolted." Radara pointed toward the open window, which gave a nice view of the city, and near the border sat Brad's custom ship, The Phantom Cat, Mark 2. You could see the trail of dust he was kicking up as he ran full tilt toward his ship. "I think your news game him a fright."

"Man, to think a kid like this can scare an Overlord." I give him one-half of a second. "I know this is the Netherworld, but is she really this much of a threat to him?!"

"I've never seen him act like this before. It's kinda got me concerned."

**Over to Brad, now...**

In the city streets, Brad was running for his life, especially from that crazed girl he just described. Like I said, there was that dust trail.

I'll bet those of you reading this now would probably just think, aside from a secret assassination, to banish that crazy girl to some far-off destination, never to return, correct? Trust me when I say this, Brad had already attempted both of those ("Twelve times each, actually.") over the past five centuries, and even though the transportation was something of a success, she always found some kind of method in order to return, and every time she came back, she always had some crazy new scheme waiting in the wings. By now, Brad had already scraped the bottom of the barrel in ways to get rid of her, and his last ditch effort to avoid or get rid of her awaited him aboard his vessel.

Makes you wonder: was this girl really this big of a threat to Brad, or was he just paranoid?

"OK, there's my ship." I'm pretty sure Brad was setting some new land-speed record for all Felynn everywhere as he ran toward his ship. I wonder what kind of crazy speed he'd hit if he had the Hyperdrive installed. "When I make it up to the deck, I'll--" For those of you thinking that at this point she'd blindside him from out of nowhere, or allow him to make it to his ship without much problem, then encounter her, they'd be dead wrong. Also, nix the idea of her dropping on him from out of nowhere like the bald doctor.

It suddenly felt as though he was significantly lighter. Don't do it, Brad; don't look down! "AAAAHHHHHH!!" I tried to warn him about it.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the classic pitfall trap. Not even obnoxiously rare male cat-demons are immune to such tricks. I wonder where he ended up this time.

**End of Chapter 9**

Until Next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	10. Chapter 10

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 10: Past and Pain... they start with the same letter.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" The scream of the jaguar Overlord reached the ears of the two still in his office.

"Uh oh. Brad's in some serious trouble!" Radara immediately looked in the direction of the scream.

"Hmm, yes, that is most definitely a scream of terror." Nelius was sitting in Brad's chair, leaning back and putting his feet up on Brad's desk. "Wow, this chair's rather comfortable. Dude must have--" THWHACK! While he had been leaning back, that Sabercat from earlier finally nailed him in the side of his head with a yarnball frozen solid by an Ice spell. "Oww! Damnit, it was a joke, lighten up some."

"That wasn't me, but you need to quit clowning around. We better go lend him a hand."

"All right, all right, fine." He rubbed the bruise on his head. '_Geez, I'm getting the third degree from a catnip addict! What next?_' While the Elbacky had run down the stairs and taken to the streets, Nelius had decided to give his wings some much needed exercise, and took to the skies, leaping out of the office window. With the city's power back up to full capacity, the few street lamps there were lighting up the area quite well.

"You see anything up there?" She shouted up to him.

"Nothing. It looks like he just disappeared into thin-- hang on a moment, what's this I see?" He noticed some kind of indentation in the street. Slowing down, he dropped down to the street in order to take a closer look. "Perfectly straight cracks like this don't form naturally, even with his efforts to clean this place up."

"What are you up to now?"

"Only one way to figure it out." Going over to the side of the road, he picked up a fairly heavy stone, around the size of someone's head, and dropped it right on the crack. It gave way, revealing an open shaft. "Figured as much. I'd say our friend wanted to give Brad a nice trip. Dunno where it leads, but...."

"Still, using a pitfall? I thought old coyote tricks like that died out years ago."

"Eh, who cares? We know where he disappeared to, so let's get to playing hero." Nelius jumped down first, his companion following suit. They ended up landing atop a tall structure, and from there the duo dropped down into one fairly familiar area. "Well, ain't this a blast? We're back in the Underground City."

"This is it?" Having never seen the area for herself, since the only ways in at the time were through several trillion gallons of water, the Elbacky could do little but marvel at the sight of the perfectly preserved structures. "I never imagined it would look like this. It's amazing." The snapping of Nelius' fingers brought her out of it.

"Yeah, less gawking, more rescuing. After we rescue Captain Fuzzball, we can come back here and marvel at everything some more."

"It's a date, then."

**Structure 23**

"Five centuries of continued searching, and I finally found you, Brad. You're quite the sneaky one, hiding out from your beloved all the way out here."

Wasting no time, the black Nekomata had an unconscious Brad chained to the stone wall, a strange device planted on his chest. In her hand, she held a container filled to the brim with a strange pink mixture.

'_The device and the mixture might've cost me quite a bit, but these are investments well worth the trouble. Once I get the special stuff running through his system and activate the tertiary function of this device, it'll only be a matter of time until he's all..._'

"DOOD! We got trouble!" A Prinny interrupted her gloating. From his frantic flailing, he was scared of something. "Intruders, Dood! We've been found out already!"

She whirled around on the spot, severly pissed at being disrupted. "Stop panicking. All of the equipment I gave you guys before we came here was tailor-made to fend off his vassals. As long as you have that equipment, even a freshly recruited, level 1 Prinny could take on entire armies of them and emerge stronger than Baal because of it. Now deal with them."

"Aye aye, dood. We'll take care of them. I just hope this stuff works." He about faced and headed back.

"Damn Prinnies, always interrupting me in the middle of something. Now where was I? Oh yes." She turned back to her prize. '_You're all mine now, Brad. I ought to thank that kid who pointed them in the right direction._'

"DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! MY PAYCHECK DOESN'T COVER THIS!" There was the sound of multiple explosions. "WE'RE GOING TO THE RED MOON EARLY, DOODS!" One gigantic explosion silenced the rest of them.

"What's going on now?!" She stormed out of the room where she had Brad held. What awaited her was the sight of several hundred charcoaled Prinnies in the structure's hall, and from the looks on their faces, they were scared shitless. "What the hell happened here?"

"I do believe, we happened." Nelius and Radara stepped out of the smoke caused by the detonated penguins. Cue one badass guitar riff.

"You.. decimated all of my Prinnies?!" The black-furred Nekomata hadn't counted on Brad recruiting someone like him. '_Wait! That's the kid the Prinnies told me about! Since when was he working for Brad?_'

"I may be a Prinny advocate, but even I know that they aren't exactly the most reliable of hirelings, even with substantial training.. and equipment." Nelius retorted, a cocky grin on his face as he tossed one of the Prinny's machete knives up and down. "Next time you go out hunting, I suggest investing in Golems, Gargoyles or even the occasional Dragon or its ilk. They often work wonders in places like this.... and they don't become living bombs when you play pinball with 'em."

"I don't give two shits who you are, you're not gonna stand in my way. For 500 years I've been preparing for this moment, and I've come too far to let it be ruined by you two." She looked ready to fight if she had to.

"Too bad for you, then. Our current job is to ruin your little moment." Radara retorted. "Now hand Brad over, and we won't have to make a fur coat out of you."

"No can do, but I can give you both this!" Reaching behind her, Nelius reacted, throwing the machete at her. As she dodged out of the way, she tossed some kind of small cylinder right at his face, then covered her ears and eyes as it produced a blinding flash mere inches from his face. "Surprise!"

"Oh Magog-Damn you, bitch!!" Both of them had been momentarily blinded by the flash bang she'd been saving for this occasion, allowing her enough time to escape. Since their eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the underground city, the flash of light was particularly harsh on them both. Oh, and the deafening bang left them disoriented for some time, though Nelius got the worst of it.

"Bye bye!" As the light died down, their eyesight and sense of direction readjusting, they saw that she'd made her escape, having already unchained Brad and disappeared.

"Crap! She got away." He snarled.

"I think not, Nelius. Take a good look over there." The Elbacky pointed toward the ground, where several tracks were still imprinted into the dirt that settled onto the floor. "She hasn't gotten away quite yet. If we hurry up, we can still catch up to her."

"Uh, tell me this.... Radara, right? How exactly does someone who isn't a ghost run straight into a wall?" He leaned against the wall closest to him, inadvertently pressing in a brick, which slid back part of the wall the Nekomata had disappeared through, showing a shortcut. Radara started to grin. "One word and I'll skin you with that knife."

"You wouldn't do that to me, would you?"

"I'm still pretty pissed right now, don't tempt me." They dashed down the passage, and he immediately noticed something odd. "You know, something tells me we're heading downward instead of up." The slope began getting severely steep. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, I can't stop!"

"Neither can I, and I'm used to this kind of stuff!" The steep hill became increasingly slick, making stopping next to impossible. When Nelius slipped up trying to turn around and ended up slamming into a wall, Radara slammed into him, causing part of the wall to revolve, sending them both flying into their next destination.. after being spun around a few dozen times.

"HOLY CRAP!!"

**Phantom Cat Mk. 2**

"Who'd ever think that Brad would carry such a beautiful ride like this?" The Nekomata sat at the helm of the ship, looking over the controls of the Phantom Cat Mark 2. "Now, if I can just find the ignition and piloting systems, I can make my getaway. Say, dear, which is the ignition?" She turned to look at him, only to remember that he was unconscious. "Oh, right. Maybe the catnip-laced mace to the head was going a little too far." She'd have to wait until he regained consciousness. Good thing nobody else knew they were here....

Or did they?

**In the lower half of the ship... **

"HOLY CRAP!!"

Nelius and Radara had somehow tumbled through the wall and into the Phantom Cat; more specifically, the Engine Room. Noticibly, the generators were already warmed up, meaning that the ship was just about ready to get going.

"How in the Overlord's name did we end up here?" Nelius was the first one to regain his composure as he looked around. "Oh, uh, mind getting up off of me?"

"Well, I am rather comfortable right here, but we gotta save Brad first off." His Elbacky companion got to her feet, and after helping him up, lead the way toward the bridge.

They ran down the hall, up some stairs, and past some rooms, one of which caught Nelius' eye. When the Elbacky realized that he wasn't following and was instead reading the sign hung on the room's door, she backtracked and grabbed him by his hair, dragging him along with her. "Ow, OW OWW! Watch the hair! I just had it the way I wanted it!"

"Would you rather have me yank you by the ear?" She said it in such a calm, sickeningly sweet tone.

"Uh, on a second thought, hair's a valid choice. OwowowowOWWWW!" A thought crossed his mind as he was being forced along. '_Sides, I don't even think I have any ears..do I?_' He put a hand to the side of his head, parting through layer upon layer of hair in order to check...

**Bridge**

"Ohh, owww... wha 'appened? Why does my head hurt?" Brad finally regained consciousness. Trying to shake the dizziness from his head, he noticed several things. One, he was inside of his ship, tied to some chair at the bridge. '_How'd I end up... oh not again!_' Two, the black-furred Nekomata, the newest form of the same girl he'd been trying to avoid for the past few centuries, was trying to fiddle with the ship's controls. Three, there was some kind of mixture sitting near her. He didn't want to know what it was she had in that vial. There was also some weird device strapped to his chest, but that would have to wait.

"You finally woke up. Good morning, handsome." The Nekomata turned her head to him. "Good thing you're already buckled up, Brad, cause in a few minutes, we're taking our honeymoon trip early!"

"WHAT?! We're not even--" He didn't dare try to finish. "I doubt you know this, but I'm already..."

"Oh, we aren't... at least, not at this moment in time anyway." She turned back to the ship controls. "Now, mind telling me which button starts up the ignition?"

"You won't get any information from me." He was trying to get free, but she had apparently learned from her previous attempts. The bindings keeping his hands and feet together were composed of a much stronger material than last time, and done in knots he never untied before. His claws, even being newly sharpened, were inefficient in trying to slice them apart. It actually felt like the material was dulling his claws. He tried stretching the material, but all it did was resist with equal force.

"Ah, ah, ah." She waved a finger. Turning back to him, she pulled a small remote out from her tail. I imagine this is the reason why Nekomatas have such bushy, fox-like tails. They must use it to carry small items! Must be where she got that flash bang from. "You wouldn't want me to press this little switch right here, would you?"

"Ha. As if you'd actually do it."

"OK, you brought this one on yourself." Pressing the switch, the device hummed to life, quickly dousing Brad with several gallons of water, the first of many things some cats, for the most part, can't stand.

"Are you stupid? I'm a jaguar, not a common housecat. Water is basically nothing to me." He told her.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that, but you seem to forget that water does attract this." With another press, a strong electrical current no less than 1.21 Gigawatts in power began flowing through his body. Combined with the water, the jaguar was getting the real shock of his life, though as to wether it was a humorous or torturous shock, you be the judge of it. When the current eventually stopped, Brad was on his back, erratically twitching from all of the electricity, his hair standing up on end, making him look more like a giant ball of fuzz than a Jaguar Overlord. She casually sauntered over to him, as if this were a mere game to her. She stooped down and pulled him back up, tracing along his jaw with one of her fingers. "Now then, are you going to tell me how to start this ship up?"

"S-s-screw... y-y-you." A small line of static electricity danced among the straight strands of fur.

"Tempting, but that offer'll have to wait. I'll have to switch over to option three."

**Meanwhile, around the corner and behind a crate.. **

"Damn her. How could she do something like that to him?" Radara was watching in anger-fueled horror as Brad received the shock of his life.

"Now I see why Brad's so adamant on avoiding her. She won't hesitate to use any necessary force in order to have her way." You could tell from Nelius' face that he was still pretty pissed off. "I've only known about her since the latter half of the previous chapter and I already want to skin her alive. She reminds me way too much of my old boss for my liking."

"If we try anything, she'll hide behind him as a shield. Any ideas on how we're supposed to stop her?" She heard a small clatter beside her, and saw Nelius fixing up and loading some kind of Netherworld model gun found inside the crate. "Are you out of your Magog-forsaken mind?! You try to fire that, and..."

"Personally, I seriously doubt using a gun in a situation like this is the smartest solution, but if we're gonna save Brad's skin, we have to match her surprise for surprise, pull the old left field act." He finished loading the gun and aimed it at the nearby wall, seeing the laser sight working. "Besides, I've got a different target in mind."

Before she could ask what it was he meant, the Elbacky's right ear began to twitch again, almost as if she was receiving a message.

"Nelius, we're about to have some company." She warned. "And from the sounds of it, they're beyond angry."

"Sounds more like an advantage to me." He lined up the small laser sight on his target. "It means one less thing for us to worry about doing."

**While Nelius was loading the gun...**

"Since you're going to be so stubborn, I guess I have no choice but to resort to my last option." The mystery Nekomata sauntered over to her prized mixture.

"And just what is in that vial?" Brad had to ask, knowing that he had few other options.

"Oh, a little something I happened to stumble across while channelsurfing. With one drop of this liquid, you'll feel true euphoria."

"What?" Cue a look that said it all. "It makes you eternally happy?! Wasn't there some kind of fungus or spore that had that effect, and for free?"

"Oh, there's more to it than that. There happens to be a special ingredient in this baby, courtesy of yours truly. When this stuff fully kicks in, the first person of the opposite gender that falls into your sights will be the one that will occupy your every waking thought. And since we're all alone on this ship... well, I'll leave you to figure it out."

"So, in a nutshell, this thing's some souped up Love Potion?"

"With a special little vitamin, added in courtesy of--." She didn't get a chance to finish her statement.

"That has to be the stupidest plan I've ever heard of!" He roared. "I know you're dense, but this tops it!"

"You think I care?!" She snapped at him before her voice fell low. "For 500 plus years, I've been pouring my heart out to you. Why won't you accept me?"

"Oh, let me see, for one, you always keep trying to kidnap me, two, you usually follow that up with some utterly *new swear word* form of torture, third, you try to force me into marriage at every turn, but to put it in the best way I can--" He took a very deep breath... "--You haven't learned a GODDAMN THING in those last five hundred years!" It was right now that she finally learned that she went too far. "I'm going to tell you this, for the absolute last time, so take down notes: I am NOT interested in you!" That was it, that statement absolutely shattered her spirit. "But, if it's any consolation to you, if you had tried something different ever since those times back then, instead of all this crazy bullcrap, things might've ended up differently between us."

"Y-you honestly mean that?" A look of hope crossed her face. "But, I always thought this was the Netherworld way: whatever you can't acquire through reason, get it through force."

"Perhaps in other places, like the Netherworld Assembly, it's perfectly normal, but you may want to take a step backwards." He warned, his eyes focused on her vial.

"For what reason?" She countered.

The sound of a gunshot rang out as Nelius aimed around the corner and fired. The bullet found its mark, shattering the glass vial and sending the liquid all over the floor.

"That would be the reason. Sorry for your loss." He grinned, watching her drop to her knees and try to scoop some of the liquid up. It, of course, slipped right through her... fingers.

"Nooo! 75,000 Hell down the drain! I knew I should've gotten the money-back guarantee!" She wailed, quite upset over her loss. "Who is responsible for this?!"

"I believe you have me to blame, yet again." Nelius stepped out from around the corner, twirling the gun around his finger twice before holstering it. "I'll admit this, I'm no expert on building relationships, but honestly, going through this much trouble, just to end up falling back on the old Love Potion routine, and then finally learning your efforts were wasted? Sad, I know, but not exactly the smartest way to make a new friend for yourself." He walked over to the side of the room, a confident look on his face.

"How would you know?" She shrieked at him. "I've been at this for longer than you've even been alive! Why would I even bother to listen to you?!"

"It just so happens that well over nine-thousand very good reasons currently exist for you to be taking my advice, but you don't have to take my word alone for it. Behind door number one..." Having pointed to the door on the furthest side of the Bridge, he pressed a button on the wall, opening the door. Outside were thousands of the native Felynn and Sabercats, and from the looks on their faces, they were less than impressed with what she'd done.

"And behind door number two..." He pressed the second button, and the closer door opened this time, revealing even more natives. Now visibly frightened, she made a run for the hallway, but perhaps just to showboat a little, he jumped right over her, landing to the side of the hallway she was headed for.

"And for our next trick, check out Door Number Three!" From within several of the ship's rooms that connected to that particular hallway, the largest horde of cats yet began pouring in. Just from their rank alone, you could tell they were among Brad's best recruits.

'_They were already inside the ship this whole time?!_' As two of the others went over to unite Brad and get him out of the way, as well as remove the device from him, the rest of them joined up with the others in forming a tight circle around the Nekomata. She ended up backing up, right into the bridge once more. The sounds of furious hissing filled the room as they all eyed her, their fangs and claws beared. The best way to put it is: someone's gonna get hurt.

"Well, you brought this on yourself." Radara told her as she stepped away from the corner, holding up what appeared to be some kind of bell. Nelius stepped over toward her, and pulled out the gun, holding it like a hammer. "You messed with our boss, now you get to mess with his best." The Nekomata's eyes widened in horror as she just realized what they were about to do, her face turning an appropriate shade of blue.

"I'd say they all want a piece of you... literally. But, enough talk, have at her!"

DING!!

**End of Chapter 10**

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	11. Chapter 11

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 11: Exploring the Cosmos... not yet, anyway

"Nelius, I have to ask, where and when did you get so good with a gun?" Brad had to ask as he, Nelius, and Radara watched the Nekomata that had held him captive get dog... er, more appropriately, cat-piled by the other Felynn. It was a sea of fur, claws and teeth, with the odds literally thousands to one. "Did you ever happen to train with a Gunner or Archer?"

"To tell you the truth, I haven't any idea, and no, I never bothered hanging around most others back home. Maybe it's just one of those things I was born with." Nelius replied as he sat down on a chair and pulled up a bag of popcorn. "Still, though, the thought that she'd go to this level of extreme, just to grab you is rather sobering. I have a suggestion."

"I'm all ears."

"Step up security, to prevent this from happening again." He popped some kernels into his mouth as he watched the spectacle. "Forget TV, this is entertainment at its finest. Just wish I had a video camera so I could immortalize this event."

Brad nodded in agreement. "Hopefully, she won't be dumb enough to try something like this again, because next time, I won't tell any of them to go easy on her." He gestured to the horde of Felynn and Sabercats who were now exiting the ship, their rage spent. The Nekomata was down on the floor, several bruises and teethmarks adorning her body with multiple tufts of fur (and a few pints of blood) missing. All she could do was twitch helplessly in pain. "You better be sharing that."

"Anyway, what do you plan to do with her now?" He asked as he passed his bag over.

"Good question. For now, I'll have her placed in one of the storage cells down below." The Jaguar Overlord crunched down on some popcorn. "I'll drop her off at a friend's later."

"Hopefully, she's learned her lesson this time." Radara interjected as she partook in some kernels. "If she hasn't, then next time she does this, I think I'll end up joining in." As always, she had to lean right over Nelius in order to reach the bag. "Looks like they missed a spot."

"Speaking of this incident, I was just reminded of something." Brad walked over to the ship's controls, taking the popcorn with him ("Hey!") and began looking over several things as he brought up some charts. "Let's see... oh, hmmm...." The readouts gave him some highly interesting information. "Well, this I wasn't expecting."

"What's up?"

"According to the readouts I'm getting, even with what all happened these past few days, I'm close to one full month ahead of what I had projected for this time. Damn, I'm good."

"Hm?" Now Nelius was interested. "Ahead of schedule for what, exactly?"

"Even though I'm legally considered this world's Overlord, I also have my other duty as a Guardian."

"Guardian?" The lone eyebrow went up. "What, you go around acting as a bodyguard?"

"Ah, no. Actually, I've been charged with the task of heading to different Netherworlds to make sure things haven't gone to methaphorical hell."

"Oh, you mean like a Cosmic Mediator?" Brad blinked.

"Well..... yes, I suppose you could put it like that." '_That's a new way I've heard it described_.' "Since everything here is in order, I can get my secondary job started by later today. I can sign you on as one of my crew members, you've earned the spot."

"Hmmm." Nelius was in thought. "That's a tempting proposition. I suppose I'll give it a shot, but I need to go grab my stuff before I do so." He departed from the ship, heading back toward his room in the Overlord's Tower. "Just send me a heads-up when it's time to go."

**MAKAI!**

Nelius Journal Log, August 25, 33XX

_Ah, the sweet smell of success. As reward for saving him from his obsessive girlfriend, Brad has offered me a position aboard his ship when he goes out on his trip around different Netherworlds to play peacekeeper. Makes me wonder how the hell he does it._

_Now this is a prime opportunity for me to check out those weird moves that keep appearing in my dreams whenever I doze off. I can understand them shielding me, but how the hell does one transform their wings into armaments like that? _

_Eh, something tells me I'll figure it all out sooner or later, so I won't worry about it for now. I'll guess it's some kind of magic._

**Nelius' room **

As Nelius stood up to stretch, he then realized that he'd been up all night helping save Brad's rear end, as he saw this Netherworld's sun rise.

"Well, since I'm wide awake from that party, trying to fall asleep's a no go." Placing what few items he had in his bag, then slinging it over his shoulder, he exited the tower and decided to just take a walk around the city for a bit, just to pass some time until takeoff. Strolling around town, he watched as several other Felynn wen about their own business, wether it was just waking up, getting something for breakfast, or going out for some morning exercise.

Though some of them did give him strange looks and make comments toward each other, as if they'd never seen a humanoid demon before, they eventually turned back to whatever it was they were doing, their fascination already used up. Nelius being Nelius, though, wasn't one to catch their comments, some of which would've been quite interesting.

Instead, his thoughts now turned toward what Brad had described about the travel to other Netherworlds. '_What was it that Queen Bitch told me about where I was from?_'

He remembered back about 4 years ago, when he had been apprenticing under Sirea. It was a year before her sudden change in attitude, and she had been telling him something...

'_I can't remember a word about the whole deal. Was it really that far back?_' Finding an old branch nearby, he took it, hooking it over his shoulders and sparing his arms from further fatigue from carrying the bag. '_Even if could squeeze some info out of her, it wouldn't explain those weird dreams, especially the one about..._' As he continued to walk, lost in his thoughts, he rammed face-first into a tree. "Oww! That wasn't there a second ago." He clutched his hurt nose, barely managing to hold onto his branch.

"Oh, but I was. It was your own fault for running into me." The "tree" turned around to reveal that it was really a Treant stump.

"Sorry about that, man. I was lost in thought."

"Seems to happen a lot with you." Surprised to hear a familiar voice way too close for comfort, he whirled around and came face to face, instead of face to chest, with Radara.

"Do you enjoy having fun at my expense?!"

"Sorry, it's the oldest habits that die the hardest." She playfully stuck out her tongue with an accompanying "nya", causing Nelius to sweatdrop. "Regardless of that, I'm out here to play messenger girl again."

"Oh, this ought to be a riot. What does he want today?"

"You did intend to take Brad up on his offer, so you best get back to his ship. He's got everything ready to go, and will be leaving within the next two hours. Here's your heads up." With that, she took off toward the ship.

It took him a moment for the message to register. "My heads up... Oh, hell!!" Dropping the branch and grabbing his bag, he quickly let his wings sprout from his back, ignoring the slight pain. "Hey, wait for me!"

**Phantom Cat Mk. 2**

"We are now leaving Brad's Netherworld, through gate [BW231]." A ship-wide intercom system informed the passengers. "Please enjoy the trip, and make sure to keep your doors firmly shut. We don't need a repeat of what happened two years back."

"Huff.. huff... next time... you're giving me a time limit... give me a quicker heads up!" Nelius complained.

"What, and ruin all the fun?!" Radara just smiled at him. "Besides, you're the one with the advantage. You can fly, you know."

"Hey, remember, even with everything that's happened, my wings are still getting back into shape again."

"Before you two decide to have a lover's spat, I best let you two know about what I already told the others." Brad, at the helm of the ship, warned the both of them. "It's going to be about a day or so before we reach the first of our stops, so you two will want to rest up. To add to that, my crew has already selected their rooms, so if you two want some space to yourselves, go claim an empty room now."

Having forgotten their discussion, the two of them quickly raced down the hall toward the sleeping quarters. Brad grinned. '_Bet number one is in the bag!_'

Meanwhile, Nelius and Radara were making their way through the sleeping quarters, trying to find any vacant room. While the latter person was content on simply finding a room, Nelius was taking a little more time, having found a panel with a shipwide map. Based on the map's information, if he was looking for his ideal room based on where he'd already been, he needed to go one hall over, three halls down, head over in this direction, then take a left.

'_Finally, one that's open. It'll have to do_.' Having taken the directions and arriving at the hall in question, he swung the door open and took in the sight of the room. Its design was fairly similar to the room he'd been given back at Brad's Tower, right down to having the exact same kind of bed, dresser, and TV. '_Wait, does that thing even get reception in dimensional space?_' Curious, he walked in, closed the door, and grabbed the remote, turning the TV on. To his surprise, the reception was actually quite clear; Peta-definiton, they called it. '_This I was not expecting, but it can wait_.' Turning it back off, he threw his bag down on the floor before he left the room, retracing his steps back toward one familiar door.

'_Let's see if Brad's got anything better than what Queen Bitch had_.' His hand went for the knob, trying to twist it. '_Hey, why's the door locked?_'

"Didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?" Brad snuck up on Nelius. Cats were known for sneaking around quite well. Hell, any quieter and they'd be teleporting.

"Holy shit!" He nearly shrieked like a spooked Prinny, almost adding in a "Dood" as he spun around. "Don't do that, man!"

"I told you to rest up. Now scoot." Nelius was already gone. '_I sense an easy source of amusement. This will be an interesting trip, after all._'

Back in his room, the humanoid was busy flipping through channels on the TV, trying to find something so uninteresting that it would bore him to sleep. So far, there was way too much stuff on that would keep his interest, or at least creep him out. Bo Tie's "Work up a Good Sweat" program, the "Netherworld Geographic" channel special on the various Dragon species, "Prinny Station", even the "Tri-tech" show from Earth was starting to catch his interest.

'_Huh, here's irony at its finest. Well over 37,000-something channels and nothing boring on_.' He flipped from channel to channel, seeing nothing that would bore him to sleep. '_This is taking too long. Forget this_.' He turned the TV off and settled into bed, sleep still eluding him for a small while.

**Over to Brad, now...**

"Say, Radara, you do know where we're headed next, right?"

"Oh, I know, since it's almost always one of our first stops. While everyone else is getting their things done, I'm going to be catching up on old times." Radara answered back. "I haven't been able to catch up with my old friend all that much, so this'll be a good opportunity to see how things have been."

"Just be careful with him being on this ship. You remember her... habits, right?"

"You shouldn't worry too much about that. Leave it to me." She laughed. "I know she'll behave. Besides, if she does get out of hand, I still have that one string I can pull."

"You're quite the devious one, aren't you?" He smirked.

"After all, I _did_ learn from the best. Good night, Brad."

**End of Chapter 11**

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	12. InterChapter

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Inter-Chapter : How to create Male Felynn

"Who turned out the sun?"

Nelius woke up that morning, according to the clock, an itching sensation originating at the crook of his left elbow. With today being the day before active duty began, everyone was allowed extra time to get rested up and prepared, and he wasn't quite awake just yet. Willing himself out of bed, he gave off a loud, lazy yawn before shuffling over to the small bathroom each room had been outfitted with.

He lumbered on by, taking a quick look at his reflection as he scratched the newly-growing fur on his arm before heading into the bathroom to...

"Hold the phone.." Even through his sleep-addled mind, something clicked. He backed up, taking a closer look. Brown fur had covered his arms from the wrists up to his elbows, and his legs from the ankles to his knees. I give him five seconds... four, three, two, one, and....

**In front of Brad's room**

"BRAD!" Right on time. The way Nelius was pounding on Brad's door, you'd swear the ship was under attack. "Get your furry ass out here, now!" It took about another minute before the Overlord/Guardian opened his door, and was promptly grabbed by the shirt by Nelius. "Explain!" He held up his fur-covered arm for Brad to see.

"Well, from what I can see, you seem to have highly unnatural hair growth." He replied, looking at Nelius' arm with a magnifying glass. "Looks suspicious to me."

"I can see that, Overlord Smartass!" Nelius shook the Overlord hard, really waking him up. "Tell me what the shit just happened! This is not what I signed up for!!"

"Hold still..." Brad got a better look at his left arm. "Well, it seems that you've been given '_the Bite_'. Congrats! Someone's had their eyes on you, and I think I know who."

"The Bite? What the hell is that?"

"It's a rare ability, but some of the Felynn here have the ability to pass on some of their traits to those they like through a bite. You know, kinda like what werewolves and vampires in the human world can do, stuff like that, I'm sure you understand."

"You're saying someone took a chunk out of me? I thought Felynn weren't a bunch of bloodsuckers."

"Hey, stop treating it like you're going to die horribly. There are some... benefits as to receiving this bite."

"Start talking, hairball."

"Well, from what I remember, it subtly changes your mana's aura, so you won't be so easily recognized by those who can sense it. I know that you've got plans to resume training, so the heightened reflexes are a plus as well."

"That's all well and good, but what about all this hair growth? I can't walk around looking like one of Mao's darker experiments!!"

"Oh, you'll go through that, gain the mannerisms of a cat, or you could end up with a severe craving for something out of the ordinary. Don't worry, though, the alien feeling usually wears off in about a week, so you'll be back to feeling like your old self in no time at all." He grinned, which earned him a fist upside the head.

"Do you even realize what kind of problems this can cause for me?"

"Talk about neurotic. Anyone ever tell you that you worry too much, Nelius?"

"OH, do I?" Without even looking he pointed behind himself, where the female crew, all of them Felynn, mind you, were just waiting for the moment when Brad closes the door. "You and I both know there's only one reason they're here, this early. Care to guess why?"

"Solely judging from the looks on their faces, I'm willing to guess they're here for breakfast."

"Yeah, and would you care to take a guess as to who's on the menu for today?"

"Well, good luck. I leave it up to you, pal." He shut the door and locked it, leaving Nelius to pound on it.

"Brad, open up." He spared one glance at the horde of females, who were advancing. "Brad, open up, this ain't funny!" Either Brad was ignoring him, or he was about to get a good laugh. "BRAD YOU MOTHERFUC--!" It wasn't any use, as the massive horde of felines piled up and around him.

By the way, Brad was, just like the rest of us, having a good laugh at Nelius' expense.

"Well, I was hoping he'd get the chance to get to know the crew a little better." Via a camera system, he watched on as Nelius was "attended" to by the female crew. "And... saved. I'll be sure to keep a copy of this around, just for a good laugh." He had another laugh as another wave of Felynn zeroed in on him. "Maybe I'll send this in to Netherworld's Most Humiliating for the grand prize. How much was it this time?"

Nelius, on the other hand, didn't have that kind of optomistic outlook. Even as he was being sandwiched by many of the Felynn ('_No wonder they all call this Marshmallow Hell... I can't breathe!!'_), he managed to squeeze out of their grasp and made a run for it.

"Damn it, leave me alone!" Down different hallways he sprinted as appropriate chase music blared through the loudspeakers, the horde of females hot on his tail (or lack thereof). If Brad was enjoying this, he was playing it up for all it's worth.

"But we wanna spend time with you!!" Yep, it's obvious they've been hanging around the Succubus clan for a long time.

"Did any of you do this to me?"

"Hell if we know." The fact that they all said this in unison would make you wonder something. Unfortunately, he made a wrong turn and hit a dead end.

"Aw, damn it all!" And as he turned around to meet his fate, he literally fell straight through the floor. "HOLY CRAAAPPP!!.. OOOF!" He hit ground about seven seconds later, lying there dazed for a moment before coming to his senses and getting to his feet. "Huh, I'm back in the Engine Room?"

"Oh, sorry about that, man." He heard someone call to him, but this voice was masculine. From around the side of a power generator came two male cat demons. One was tall and muscular, his fur light orange, while his companion was lean and limber, his fur much darker in color. Both of them were wearing stained overalls with white T-shirts underneath. "Never would've imagined that floor panel up there would collapse. Guess this flying trashcan just isn't holding up like it used to."

"Eh, you guys actually saved me a great deal of trouble." Now Nelius got a better look at the two. "Anyway, who are you guys?"

"Ah, my pals call me T-Bone." The lighter of the two answered. "And my associate here is Razer. We're Brad's mechanics, working behind the scenes to make sure that this ship stays in traveling condition." He handed a tool over to a prinny, who ran over to replace it with the other one he needed. "This is about the most screentime we'll get in this story. We're still waiting for our own backstory."

"Huh. I never would've imagined there'd be other male cat demons." '_Especially since whatever the crap his name is got skinned alive by Pram_.'

"Actually, the politically correct term here is: we're Infected." Razer added in as he picked up his needed tool.

"Infected? You mean, like some kinda weird disease?" He got a nod as a confirmation.

"Originally, the both of us were humans decades ago, and Brad hired us for our expertise in ships like these. Hardly two months after we were signed in, we both got '_the bite_'. We were affected instantly, and we've been like this ever since." T-Bone took a moment to look Nelius over. "You've been given the bite as well, but you seem to be in the early stages of it."

"You mean there's more than just fur growth?" He didn't like that bit of information.

"Oh, like you wouldn't believe. There's the changing of your ears, growing a tail, gaining claws on your hands and feet, and a whole bunch of other stuff I'd much rather not go into detail about. I've been here for several years, and I'm still trying to get used to it all."

"Anyway, you said we saved you a deal of trouble. Care to share?" Razer asked.

"Eh, I was getting pounced on by nearly every female member of this ship at once."

T-Bone chuckled. "Most guys I know would kill to be placed in that position. You're quite the popular one, aren't you?"

"Hey, I already got enough problems of my own to worry about, I don't need this crap on top of it." Before Nelius could explain, a video screen on the far wall clicked to life, bringing up an image of Brad.

"Ah, so that's where you disappeared to. I see you've met my good friends."

"OK, jackass!" Nelius marched up to the vid screen, national bird of the Netherworld on display.... OK, I mean to say that he was flipping him off. "You've got a lot of nerve stranding me out in the hall like that!"

"All in all, things turned out fine for you, so what's the matter?"

"How in the Hell can you be so calm about this? Look at me!" He gestured to himself. "I can't walk around looking like some kind of science experiment gone wrong!"

"You don't have to, then." Needless to say, the situation was starting to lose its charm. "Take a closer look at yourself."

"Huh?" When Nelius took a closer look at his arms, he noticed that some of the fur was beginning to shed off. "The heck is this?"

"Well, this is something new." Brad appeared to be writing something down. "For your body to be able to heal and reverse the effects of the bite, this proves one of two things: either you're not an ordinary demon, or you got some strong genes in your family. As to what kind of demon you are, though..."

"Huh? What about me?"

"Never mind that for now." He was awfully quick to wave that off, wasn't he? "Either way, we'll be arriving at our first stop in about 6 to 12 hours. I already unlocked the training room for you, Nelius, so if you're feeling up to blowing away whatever time you want, go right ahead."

"Took your damn time." As he headed for the door, he opened it up... and came face to face with Radara. "We meet yet again." He deadpanned.

"Oh yeah, nice greeting after I came down here, out of the kindness of my own heart, to retrieve you." She quipped. "Come on, you pain in my tail."

"Cruel bitch."

"Damn proud of it."

**Training Room Lift**

"Well, here you are, patchy." She gestured toward the door to the training room. "Be glad I took the long way around the others."

"Oh yeah, I'm grateful for that, but don't call me patchy."

"Why not? I think it's cuter that way. Besides, it fits your current situation." Most of the fur on Nelius' arms and legs had already fallen off, leaving behind several bald spots.

"You're taking this rather calmly. Did you do this to me?" The tone in his voice suggested he was ready to skin someone alive.

"I haven't any idea where your room is on this ship. Besides, you're the first non-feline demon I've seen since Brad took over, no way I'm gonna change that."

"Oh. Never mind, then. If you do find the guilty one, make sure she won't get any ideas about trying this again." He opened the door, taking the lift upwards.

"Hmm, who did try to change him?"

"You know as well as I do that the guilty party won't come forward so easily." Brad had just about teleported his way up here. "I did happen to hear something concerning me, so I'll have to be going now."

"Yeah, I got some of my own things to take care of." '_Including making sure that my old friend won't try anything funny..' _ She looked down toward the floor, seeing a hair and deciding to pick it up. Inspecting the hair, it now crossed her mind as to who'd been behind this._ 'But first.._.'

**End of the...**

"AAAAIIIIIEEEEEE!!!! IT WASN'T MY IDEA!! DON'T... I NEVER MEANT TOOOOO!!" A sobering cry of pain echoed throughout the ship.

"She had it coming."

**OK, real End of the Inter-chapter**

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	13. Chapter 12

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 12: Should've sent someone else.

"So, he hasn't yet figured it out yet?"

"No, it appears it all went over his head. We sent him both items, and he still doesn't get it. I thought he was a bit brighter than this."

"Even with this space extending our existence, time is the cruelest master. We need to step up the effort."

"No other choice, then. We'll have to leave the rest up to the four fogies."

"Even now, he's fighting right alongside them, but realizes neither their importance nor their existence."

"I can admire his will to become stronger, but he's taking the long road. I'll tell them to talk to him, and show him the quicker, smarter way."

"Don't strain yourself too much. Remember, if we exert ourselves too much more..."

"I'm well aware of the consequences. That's why I'm the one taking them. You just hang back and relax. After all, you have the most important part in all this."

**Phantom Cat Mk. 2, Training Room**

"Ready again?"

"As I'll ever be."

Almost immediately, the Nekomata who ran the center, Abbie, sprang forth, ready to attack. She aimed her kicks toward him at various points, and watched with expectant results as Nelius made to block each one. She attempted to trip him up with a low sweep, but he jumped backwards, then went on offense, aiming a heeldrop toward her head. Unexpectedly, she grabbed his foot, then flipped him backwards. As he landed, he charged in, looking ready to throw a right hook. Abbie adjusted her strategy, intending to meet his fist with her own, but just as she threw her own punch, he dipped low to the ground, then shifted over, coming up with a rising left.

"Whoa!!" Bringing down both of her arms to block, she backed up. "I think that'll do it for now. Looks like you're finally getting back into the swing of things."

"You think so?"

"I'll say. Speaking of which, when was the last time you ever went for a workout?"

"About three years back. After my former boss ended up having something shoved far up her ass, it then laying eggs and dying, every day she'd keep everyone who wasn't part of her personal army holed up inside the castle. It felt more along the lines of being put in a zoo or a birdcage."

"What made her flip out like that?"

"Hell if I know. That's what I was trying to figure out before I said '_Screw this_' and ended up leaving."

"I see. Well, I don't know about you, but I could use some lunch."

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up." As she took the lift back down, he closed his eyes as he leaned against the wall, and found himself immersed in another strange vision. He found himself standing in what appeared to be an arena of sorts, with four different colored auras radiating from the seperate corners of the room. Even when he opened his eyes, this was all he saw. Something or someone wanted his attention, and they were determined to get it.

"Nelius, it's been a long time." One voice, fiery and hot-tempered called to him. "Our message finally reached you."

"Ohh, not this crap again. Who am I addressing this time?" He groaned.

"Call us the answers to your questions." Another voice, old and sagely, answered his complaint.

"All you have to do is come find us..." A female's voice, cold and biting, began the sentence...

"... and we'll tell you everything you want to know." And a second female's voice, with a teasing tone, finished.

"Where are you?" Nelius looked around, seeing nobody anywhere. "For that matter, where the hell am I?"

"We are quite close, but, at the same time, worlds apart." The red aura flared into a pillar of flame.

"The entrance is literally in the palm of your hand." The green aura whipped around, becoming a fierce tornado.

"Once you are here, come and find us, if you dare." The blue aura solidified the air around it into a glacier.

"If you can pass our tests, we'll give you _all_ the information you can handle." The yellow aura struck with the ferocity of a thunderbolt.

Then everything snapped back as his eyesight restored itself, and he found himself back in the training room. He looked slightly disoriented.

"That clinches it, I'm never letting another Felynn sink her teeth into me again." He felt the area where he'd been bitten, running his finger over the bite marks. Thankfully for him, all the fur had shed off, and he was back to normal. "I wonder if they ever caught the one responsible for this." Too bad he didn't hear what we heard.

"Attention all personnel of the ship, we have arrived at our first destination." Brad's voice came over a ship-wide loudspeaker. "Personal members of my team, report to the bridge immediately. All other crew will perform their duties as regularly scheduled. And, as for you, Nelius..." The aformentioned demon froze. "Don't think you're off the hook just because you're the new guy. Come on down to the bridge as well. As the new crewperson, I happen to have a special task planned for you." The speaker clicked off.

"Oh, joy. I can only wonder what it is our Leader of the Litterbox has up his sleeves this time." Taking the lift back down, Nelius headed for the bridge of the ship, where he saw many other Felynn, who he guessed were part of Brad's team. '_Oh, those are the ones who stopped that obsessive Nekomata the other day_.' Though some of them were giving him odd looks, possibly disappointed that the bite's effects were healed and reversed, he ignored it and patiently waited for Brad to show up.

When the aformentioned Overlord/Guardian did show up about ten minutes later, he was wearing something vastly different from when the crew saw him normally. With this wear, all he had to do was ditch the fur and ears, get a human face, and he practically would pass as human.

"All right, team members, you know what to do, so get out there and don't come back until you're done." He opened one of the doors, allowing the Felynn to filter out. "As for you, Nelius." He focused his attention on the only non-Feline demon, who was also the only one left... oh wait. "As it is, the Overlord of this Netherworld, someone you should know rather well, gave me the go-ahead to sign one of her vassals on as a new crewperson, and I'm sending you to go get that new person."

"Why send me? Why can't you send someone else?"

"One, I'm running the show, and two, I have to make sure you're capable of the tasks soon to arrive. Now, you've got a job to do, so go do it." Pressing a button on the dashboard, a hatch in the ceiling opened up, and a springboard beneath Brad's feet activated, sending the jaguar flying out of his own ship. Nelius just watched on as Brad did something most Felynn are incapable of doing.

"What. The. Friggin. Hell."

"Heh, I haven't seen him use that one in a long time."

"And how many ways does he have of getting off this ship?"

"Around three-hundred for getting off normally. It cranks up to around a thousand if you count all the ways he disposes of unwanted passengers."

"And just what shall you be doing today?"

"Gotta run over to the Overlord's Castle. I got an old friend waiting for me over there. What about you?"

"Gotta go pick up our new crewperson." The two left the ship and headed off in their own random directions. It was only about six minutes later that he realized something. '_Wait, who the hell am I supposed to be locating?_' He tried to find his way to the Overlord's Castle, but all it ended up doing was making him even more hopelessly lost. Turning around to head back to the ship, he failed to notice that he had a visitor following behind, even with the fact that the area looked rather barren, and the sky had a weird warping effect to it.

"Stupid furball, not even telling me who I had to locate.... what the crap!" As his thoughts suddenly made a turn from killing Brad to something belonging in an M-rated fic, he nearly tripped over a petrified tree root. "Whoa, that bite must've had some weird side-effects. I'll have to ask for some medicine later." He just continued on, attempting to plot against the jaguar Overlord, but every time he tried to come up with some new method of skinning the Overlord alive, his thoughts kept changing back to what would break the T bounds of this fic wide open. "What the hell? I can't plot like this."

'_He's quite resistant. Messing with him's gonna be fun_.' The stalker in question was in fact, another Succubus. '_So, Brad hired him, huh? May as well squeeze in what I can before he has to leave_.'

Believe it or not, there are actually two known subspecies of Succubus in the Netherworlds. The commonly known succubus, coded as species HRD, has curved horns and transforms its tail into a serpent's head to attack its opponents, whenever it's not making use of its magic. This particular succubus was a lesser known, and older species found normally around this area of the Netherworld, coded as RYJ, which has spiraling horns like Overlord Priere's and a noticable lack of a tail, instead using its wings to attack. It was believed that both species held ties to the ones recently found around the Nether Institute, due to their use of both indirect and direct methods of dealing with their opponents.

'_It makes me wonder what he's... oh!_' She had to crouch behind one of the only trees around, the same one whose long-reaching roots tripped him up, in order to evade his sight. '_He's definitely not like the other demons around here. I am going to enjoy this_.'

"Agh! This is just plain ineffecient! I'm going to track down that walking furball and.." Sensing that those strange visions were beginning to seep back into his mind, he shook them off, then got an idea. As he headed back toward the ship, he stooped down and picked up a stone, roughly around the size of his own fist. When the visions began to creep back-- '_Gotcha Bitch!_' --He spun around and flung the stone hard, nailing someone right in the face.

"Oww!" Hit hard by the stone, the succubus was flushed out of her hiding spot. "Damnit, damnit, DAMNIT, that hurt!"

"Figured as much. No other kind of demon has the ability to influence others' thoughts like that." Nelius noted. "On any other day, you might've gotten through to me."

"Still, did you have to throw that rock?" She clutched the area where the stone had found its mark. She was lucky it hadn't drawn any blood.

"Just be glad I held back some, otherwise you wouldn't even have a head left." He turned back in the direction of the ship. "Either way, I've got work to do. Can't play with you now." Spreading his wings out, he quickly began flying back toward the ship. '_Should've thought of this in the first place. I can see the Overlord's Keep from here now_.' He adjusted his direction toward the castle in the distance. '_Oh, we're at Priere's place. Explains why Brad said it was someone I should know. Man, it's been years since I was here_.'

"OK, that's it, now I'm pissed. So, that's how he wants to play? Fine by me." Allowing her own wings to spread, she took flight, ready to give chase. "After all, I was one of Priere's best; no way I'm going to let him get off the hook so easily."

**Over to the castle**

"So, that explains where my former vassal's son ran off to." Nelius was right, it's everyone's favorite demon hunter turned Overlord, Priere. She was in the middle of a discussion with Brad.

"His unusual talents proved to be of use, especially considering that he helped bring an end to a shortage we were suffering, so I hired him on." Brad explained.

"I recently heard that he had gone missing from Sirea's Netherworld. Just after it was found out he left, she sent out bulletins everywhere."

"He told me he was having problems with the Overlord, so he decided to leave."

"Sirea's probably stretching the truth again. According to one of her bulletins, she's called him a--" She brought up the bulletin in question. "--Traitor who deserted us and stole an extremely valuable artifact. If found, return him to [SN496]. 60 million Hell reward." Priere tossed the bulletin elsewhere. "Still can't figure out why she decided to start acting like she had a barbed baton shoved so far up her--"

"She may be one of my top suppliers, but I doubt she needs to know he's working for me now. Speaking of him, I wonder how he's doing in finding that new recruit of ours."

"You did remember to tell him who it was he was supposed to be looking for, right?" Brad froze up. "Aha, I thought so. Scatterbrained as always, aren't you?"

A section of the castle wall exploded, giving both Overlords the answer to the question. Nelius had been blasted in the back with a Thunderbolt attack, causing him to go flying face first through the wall into Priere's Audience Hall. He picked himself up from the floor, scattering small pieces of rubble everywhere. Shaking away the shock from the attack, he came to face Overlords Priere and Brad.

"Hello." He waved his hand, as though flying straight through a wall was a perfectly normal thing to do these days. "Long time, Priere."

"Like...wise. What happened to you?"

"I ran into a little trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" Just as Brad had to ask, a blur of purple came flying through the hole in the wall that Nelius had flown through, knocking the young demon through the other wall, leaving Priere's Audience Hall with two new windows. Now, if she could get some blast-proof glass installed, it'd become a perfect vantage point.

Priere and Brad looked though the newly formed hole in the wall, seeing Nelius tangle with whoever it was that decided on making him a new target. When the dust settled down, they could accurately make out Nelius and his assailant.

"Oh, damn it! I told her to meet up with him, not attack him!" Priere was, to say the least, not happy.

"You know her?"

"That would be Esara, one of my best vassals, though obviously not in attitude. I was hoping having her work with you would change that."

"Explains a lot. Well, looks like his job was done."

"Not exactly." She then turned to call for a construction crew.

As to what they were doing... it could most accurately be described as they each took a turn in beating the living hell out of one another.

"You little bitch!!" Nelius had taken the initiative, throttling Esara with both hands before she managed to pull out of his grip.

"Look who's talking!" In one fluid move, the Succubus stuck a foot in the middle of his back and was pulling his arms behind his back.... painfully.

"You need an attitude adjustment!" With one quick jerk, Nelius freed an arm, then whirled around to sock the Succubus in her face, sending her backwards.

"Fine, how's this for starters!" As she flew in towards him, this time she'd resorted to trying to shock him with point-blank range thunderbolt spells. Even as she tried to force her hand onto his face, he managed to keep himself from becoming a back-up generator for the Makai Casino. As she tried again while he was forced onto his back, he kicked her arm, throwing the spell from her hand, and if you checked its trajectory, you'd soon see that it bounced off the side of several trees and was now headed straight toward the pair of Overlords.

While Priere had ample time to get out of the way, Brad, on the other hand, was distracted by the fight, and thusly nowhere near as fortunate. He'd taken the full brunt of the electrical blast, leaving his fur singed and most of it sticking straight up. Little bolts of static could be seen traveling from one tuft of fur to the next as he twitched. It wasn't as bad as what the black Nekomata had done just yesterday, but enough was...

"ENOUGH!!" He roared as he jumped down to ground level. The look on his face was one of pure, maniacal fury, which was enough to stop the match of '_Strangle him/her_' that Nelius and the Succubus were now in the middle of. When they got a good look at the Jaguar/Overlord, the phrase "Scared Shitless" would've been the understatement of the day. Trust me, if somone's waving around an entire castle tower, you're gonna want to get out of his way.

"Did his level just jump?!" Yeah, you read that correctly, his level jumped up to around somewhere in the five-thousand area.

Forgetting their earlier argument turned fight, the two now hugged each other out of fear of being barbequed by Brad, even forgetting the fact that since Nelius was slightly shorter than his opponent, his face was now crammed into her chest.

"Run?"

"Sounds good."

One of the two said the above sentences, but considering how much more focused they were on running off, it was hard to tell who said what. Almost immediately, Brad's level settled back down.

"I think that worked." He tossed the tower away as he watched the two ran off.

"Did you have to wreck that tower again? I just got that one fixed."

"Well, though I went slightly overboard, I had to scare them straight, so what better way than letting them see my levels?"

**Phantom Cat Mk. 2**

"Huff... huff... I think we're safe." The both of them, at Nelius' idea, had quickly hidden aboard the Phantom Cat, stumbling into the first room they'd managed to find that was unlocked. Once inside that room, both had dived over to the other side of the bed, trying to keep themselves hidden from view.

"Start hoping. I don't think I've ever seen anyone get that pissed off before, to raise their level up that high."

"Especially after being toasted by one of my thunderbolts." She then thought back to that. "Then again, if his fur was thicker, we could've called him a walking fluffball."

"Oh yes, I saw that before. The catfro, I think someone called it." The both of them began to laugh at the thought of it.

"Nice to see you two are getting along." A voice caused the two of them, who were hiding behind the bed, to turn their heads over to who had addressed them, fear written across their faces, though they relaxed upon seeing who it was. "Especially considering you were trying to kill each other moments ago."

"Oh, it's you." Nelius recognized Radara. "Where'd you come from?"

"This _is_ my room. You remember, space was limited."

"Oh, yeah. I'll be going now." Nelius stood up, walked over to the door, and left.

"As for you.." The Elbacky regarded the Succubus by dashing over to her and practically, for a lack of a better term, tackle-hugged the Succubus. "Finally! We can catch up for lost time!" At least, this is what she was going for.

"Uh, do I know you?" The Elbacky fell over, right there on the spot. She hit the floor with a sound comparable to an anvil being cartoonishly dropped on one's head.

"Don't tell me you forgot! We told each other that we'd keep in contact with each other, no matter the distance." She scrambled to her feet, standing face to face with the other woman, a small trail of blood humorously trickling down the side of her head. "Though, I did get sidetracked due to recent events."

"Oh, yes, I remember that." She put a finger to her lips in thought. "Still, who are you?" Cue the Felynn falling to the ground again.

"Esara!" She screeched at her. To this, she got a laugh as a reply.

"I'm just joking with you, Radara. I could never forget my best friend, the Living Radar." To that, Radara's face began to burn a bright red.

"Do you have to use that ridiculous nickname again?"

"Come now, it's only a appropriate title. After all, you _were_ always good at finding things nobody else could." Esara just teased. "Probably does explain how you managed to locate your little boyfriend over there."

"Oh, you mean Nelius? Well, it's more like he found me, but that's a minor detail."

"Really? Start talking. I want to hear all of this."

"Well, it all started a few days ago..."

**End of Chapter Twelve**

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	14. Chapter 13

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 13: (Not so) Special Delivery

"Yeah, we saw that kid."

"Really?"

"Just a few days ago, actually. As he was walking out of the store, we decided to follow him, and right as we cornered him, his wings gave off this big flash of light, and by the time we can see again, he's long gone!"

Having made it to the town of Midnight, one of Sirea's vassals, a Strider known as William, was interviewing the three residents who had momentarily made contact with Nelius as of one or two weeks ago.

"Did you happen to see which direction he went?" William questioned.

"Last I saw, he was headed out that way, toward the old port." The Succubus, who had made the previous statement, pointed out. "It looked like he was getting ready for a trip past the place." He nodded, jotting down this vital piece of information, before thanking the three and heading toward the city's edge. He reached into his pocket and extracted a cellular phone, hitting a particular number on speed dial. It took a moment before it patched through.

"William reporting in. Target was last seen heading in the direction of the Dimension Port. I'm en route to gather more information." He ended the call and pocketed his phone before heading toward the Port. '_Still, I can't understand as to why Sirea's dead set on chasing after that boy. I've never noticed anything particular about him..._' He looked ahead, seeing something on the ground... '_Blood? Whose is it?_'

Elsewhere, you could hear an explosion. Actually, it was the fifth one that day. To wit, it came from the upper floors of the Overlord's castle.

"Mark those five down for termination. They won't be causing any more trouble."

**Nelius' Room**

Lying in bed, Nelius could do little but stare at the ceiling, though more accurately he was glaring at the ceiling.

'_Eighteen hours.... aren't they ever going to stop?_' With the addition of Esara onto the team, things had been more lively aboard the ship; of course, this wasn't always a good thing. Ever since her addition, there was always some sort of reason for her to round up a few hundred ship members and throw some kind of party, whenever she wasn't hanging around Radara.

Nelius was trying to get some rest before their next stop, but with the fact that she'd unknowingly chose a room right next to his this time around, he was going to have to suffer through it all. Just as his patience bottomed out and he was ready to go raise some hell of his own, a cry of surprise came from the room.

"Hey, the power ran out!" One of the Nekomata in the room complained. "Did we blow a fuse?"

"Close, but no catnip for you." Even though there was a slightly sound-resistant wall between the rooms, Nelius could hear a good chunk of the whole exchange. Brad was talking to them through the communication system he had personally installed. "I can understand you all wanting a good party; I've been to some myself. Unfortunately, you've chosen a rather inappropriate spot to host it, so I've taken the liberty of cutting off the power to that room."

"What the--"

"Do not forget, you're all aboard this ship for a good reason. As it is, we're soon to hit our next stop, so it's time to shut this down." Relieved to hear this, Nelius finally conked out.

**Next day**

"Uahh, man was I tired." When he finally woke up, it was to roaring laughter that was echoing throughout the ship. "Now what's going on?" When he got to the bridge about seven minutes later, he saw what had to have been the funniest sight so far.

"Uh, someone wanna explain to me what happened to Major Catnap?" Brad's entire face, fur and all, was a bright burning red, the look on his face appropriately matching.

"You remember that black-furred Nekomata?"

"Yeah, what about her?"

"She got loose." The Tailring who explained this to him pointed over to the furthest corner of the bridge, where the Nekomata in question was chained up, a beaming grin upon her face. "And got to him rather quick. She decided to go with Cherry-apple Red for this occasion."

Brad had tried washing the lipstick off, but it hadn't been successful; instead his efforts ended up smearing the stuff all around his face. The jaguar Overlord now looked like either a big, furry tomato or someone who saw something he shouldn't have. Most of the Felynn were having a good laugh as their leader was shooting them all a death glare.

"Not one word out of you." Brad warned as he saw Nelius. As Brad went over to grab the Nekomata in question, Nelius felt something being pressed into his hands.

"What's all this?" He was now in the possession of a shipping package.

"Pictures, video, all supplementary material. We made so much, we had to share it with everyone. Shame you weren't there to see it first-hand, though."

"Hang on a second... did you let her out?"

"Served him right for shutting us down." Before he could tell her off, Brad had apparently chosen him to accompany him on this task, nearly dragging him along. From their landing area in the middle of a field, the three of them began walking for several minutes before a castle, situated right above the middle of a volcano, came into view.

"So, what occasion calls for the near drag-off today?" Nelius questioned.

"A delivery. I told you about this one." He motioned toward the Nekomata.

"Say, why did we land so far away from the place?"

"Unfortunately, I don't quite get along with one of the inhabitants here. Hence, we go in, drop her off, then leave."

"Wouldn't it have been easier to land closer, then drop her off and leave? It'd cut down travel time."

"If I did so, we'd end up being..." He trailed off, seeing something or someone speeding toward them, kicking up a large dust cloud. "What's that?"

"From this distance, it's hard to give an accurate guess at what's coming at us." Nelius had gotten out of Brad's grip and was viewing the object that was moving toward them. "If I had a pair of binoculars or something, I could get a better view... oh, thanks." The Nekomata handed him a pair as she worked her way out of her bonds.

"Where did you get those?" Brad had to ask.

"My tail. How else do you think we hold all our stuff?" She honestly answered. "What, you thought it was an asspull?"

"I'm not going there."

"A shame."

"Yeah... anyway, let's see what we have here... I see...." Now balancing on top of Brad's head ("Mind getting off my skull?"), he brought the binoculars up to his eyes and focused them on the faroff target. What he saw caused a big smirk to creep across his face before his next statement. "I see... Black.... and pink... with quite the considerable pair of assets too. And no, I'm looking at our little friend."

"What are you going on about?" The ground began to shake violently. Whatever it was that was rapidly approaching them, it was either extremely heavy, or it made the decision to bring some friends along. "Uh, I know you told us what it is you see out there, but the question now is how many?"

"Gimme a second, there's too much dust in the way. Ok, OK, I see two.. scratch that, eight... wait a second, ah, twenty.... holy exaggeration, Badman, there's over twelve thousand of 'em, and I'm not just talking people!" He began to grin as he lowered the binoculars and jumped down from Brad's head. "Well, Brad, if you value what remains of your easily shattered and broken sanity, I suggest you run away, right now, and never look back."

"What makes you say that?" The figure leading the mob took an impressive flying leap, getting far ahead of the aformentioned mob and landing right in front of Brad. "Uh...now I see why..." The Jaguar began to sweat ever so much more profusely, and with good reason.

"Hello, Brad. Long time, no see." It was Etna.... yes, _that_ Etna.

Over the past 450 years since the Overlord Zenon and Baal Thievery incidents, she had definitely grown up and out, no longer the skinny, flat-chested Demon Lord who departed for Veldime in hopes of taking the title of "Goddess of All Overlords" for herself in an effort to show up Laharl after their feud (which was over pudding, of all things). Without any kind of doubt, she was completely worthy of her self-made "Beauty Queen" title.

She was wearing an outfit that was a modified variation of her original wear. While it, in fact, showed two-hundred percent less skin than her original one did (shock and awe, huh?), this particular outfit, combined with the fact that she allowed her hair to flow freely down the back of her neck, would definitely cause heads to turn, and several jealous tempers to flare.

"Brad.." She seemed to put on a mock pout, complete with eyes and everything. "Do you know how long it's been since we last heard from you? You never call, you never write... I thought we had something special."

"Uh, er... ah, Et-Etna, I.. thought w-we already moved past that pr-problem... gulp..." He was sweating quite profusely now, his eyes widening as Etna stepped closer and closer. A few more beads of sweat and he'd grow a brand new flower patch right beneath his feet... Oh look, there it is now. Meanwhile, Nelius and the Nekomata were both laughing at the sight of Brad's reaction. Who'd ever think that the Felynn Leader was scared shitless of Etna?! Yet another incident to make sure he'd never live down.

"Oh, but before we take that final step, I'd like to introduce a few close friends of mine." Stepping aside, one of Brad's secret fears had come to life... there were hundreds, no wait, thousands of Etnas all giving him a particular look. Methinks there was a rogue Clone symbol running about somewhere. "Say hi, girls."

"Hi, Brad." All in unison, they greeted him with the most sickeningly cheery voice they could muster.

Faced with this, Brad did the only thing he could do... he screamed in a particularly high-pitched voice (which must've set a new Netherworld record for all Felynn, shattering the previous one twice over) and ran back to his ship, taking off in the blink of an eye.

**Dimension Space, another ship**

In another ship, in a distant corner of the Netherworld Space...

"Hm?" A Felynn with snowy white fur looked up from a book she'd been reading, entitled "Souls through the Ages". "Now that was odd."

"HellStar, what's up?" A young man seated at the ship's helm, who some people would say looked like a human form of Brad, turned his head to look at her.

"Maybe it's just me imagining things, but I'd have sworn I just heard someone scream in an unusually high pitch." She turned her attention back to her book. "Someone familiar..."

"There's only one person I know who'd scream that loud." He let out a sigh. "Sounds like he's in over his head once more. Better plot the interception course." Bringing up a display of this section of Netherworld Space, he entered in a set of coordinates, and turned toward the right direction. "I should make a drinking game out of this. Nobody'd last to round three."

**Laharl's Netherworld**

"Though that was about the best laugh I've had this week, there goes my ride." Nelius gazed at the rapidly departing ship. "And most of my stuff."

"Ah, don't worry about it. At least he'll still have it for you." The original Etna placed a hand on his shoulder. "Besides, I got what I came out here for." Lifting up her right hand, she revealed a wallet. "I knew there was reason I had that Awesome Hand on me. That guy owed me cash." She leafed through the wallet, taking her share, and then handed it off to Nelius.

"Well, since I'm stuck here for the moment... is Netherworld's Most Humiliating on?"

"Not until tomorrow... either way, I've got some old footage of the Prince that I have to send in. It's about that one incident involving Hanako and his..." Nelius looked at her, then began to grin. "I take it there's a particular reason you asked."

"Indeed there is. Sorry about interrupting that last bit, but it just so happens that one of his crewmembers managed to nab some obnoxiously rare pictures of Brad in his most vulnerable state right here. Don't tell him I sent you these beauties." Pulling out package in question, he handed it over to Etna before pointing to the Nekomata. "And, with her help, they even managed to catch some all too hilarious footage of Brad freaking out. Hope you got the good stuff squared away."

"Something tells me we're going to get along just fine." Motioning for him to follow, he followed along with the massive group of Etna clones, eventually arriving at the castle itself, which had undergone a rebuilding following a massive war Laharl'd staged in order to attract some healthy competition. Sure enough, he won, and even managed to acquire a few new vassals, but his competition's aim hadn't been perfect, and they ended up trashing his castle, which only spurred him on to utterly crush them.

Just from looking at the reconstructed areas, you could tell where his opponents had landed a hit, and with what as well. The front entrance had been smacked with a Mega Wind, while some of the castle's underside had been frozen solid (how that happened, we'll never know). Two of the taller spires had been the unfortunate recipients of some Star magic, and there were small craters dotting the way up to the castle; though wether those were from Laharl or his competition, you be the judge.

**Laharl's Castle, Main Entrance Hall**

The Etna clone group, having taken the tape and incriminating photos, were sitting in front on a television, laughing incredibly hard at the footage of the act the crew had staged in order to capture Brad freaking out. Having rarely seen the male Felynn in such a state, this was a gold mine to them, the Holy Grail (or Unholy Grail, depending on your point of view) of entertainment for them. They, alongside several of Brad's own crew, would make sure he could never live this incident down. At least, not once they posted the footage and the zillions of embarassing photos on the NWWW (NetherWorld Wide Web).

"And there I am!" At this point, the Nekomata, who had a hand in this, was practically being celebrated. After all, without her, most of this wouldn't have happened.

Nelius, on the other hand, was walking around the castle with the original Etna, mostly hearing about the miscellaneous things that happened ever since the Veldime conflict.

"Well, that's more or less how Rozalin ended up as Veldime's new Overlord. She's never had any problem bossing others around, so I think she fits the bill pretty well. And don't even start me on the crazy stuff happening around Evil Academy, especially since Raspberyl decided to--"

"Hate to interrupt again, but that reminds me.." Nelius interrupted, jerked his thumb back at the group of Etnas. "How did that happen?"

"It involves this weird gemstone Hanako found, Goleck's favorite warship, and Mao's interference. Extra details are going to cost you." Hearing a beep, she took a quick look at her watch. "Well, I gotta go get Sleeping Ugly off his lazy ass. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She turned and headed for the throne room.

'_I know there's those stories about all the crap she's done for the past four centuries, but I can't even begin to imagine why Brad is afraid of her. Must be that... what do they call it? Oh yeah, noodle incident_.' He watched Etna's retreating form as she left. '_Either way, I've got some time to kill until Major Fuzzball realizes I'm still here, so, I best find something to pass the time_.' He considered going over to watch whatever it was that was on the TV now, but something in his pocket gained his immediate attention. Reaching into said pocket, he extracted the white sphere that had been delivered to him back on Brad's Netherworld, it feeling like it'd been on the receiving end of a fire spell. As it hit the open air, a buzzing feeling began to radiate from the Shatter Gauntlet as a small section on the wrist opened up, revealing the black sphere, now solidified, that he'd been given on his first day leaving Sirea's.

"Why do I get the feeling I know what's gonna happen next?" Now within special proximity to each other, they began emitting a glow that overtook his sense of sight. "I knew it!!" When the glow died down, the Gauntlet, devoid of its wearer, clattered to the ground.

**One warp later, and...**

"Aaaagggghhhhh.. Ouch!" Another three point landing for Nelius. "Eh, where the hell am I now?" As he got up, he saw a scarecrow sign nearby. Getting closer, he saw that it read 'Depths of the Shatter Gauntlet'. "There's a camera around here, isn't there?" He took a look at his surroundings.

Anyone who saw this coming, please raise your hands. Don't care if you might look funny, get those hands up there.... that's better.

He was standing in the middle of that strange arena he'd seen in that weird vision he had yesterday before Esara had been recruited. In each corner of the room stood a pillar of light, each one a different color: red, green, blue, and yellow.

'_No amount of smartass comments can even describe this. Eh, better just pick one and be done with this_.' He headed over to the green pillar. Stepping into the green glow, he then found himself standing in what appeared to have been a library or book emporium. I'm pretty sure there's someone out there who's dreaming about a place like this, right now.

"Ah, good to see you took our message to heart, young Nelius." The person who had addressed Nelius was sitting at a desk. Clothed in red and green magician's robes, he stood and turned around to face the young demon, hefting up a thick, leather bound book. Just from looking at him, you could tell he was an old fogie. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever find your way here."

"Who might you be, gramps?"

"That's Rudra of the Wind to you, Nelius. You'd best watch your words."

"And why is that?"

"I doubt you know this, but I'm the third in a team of four your father decided to create on a whim." That got Nelius' attention rather quickly. "I'll admit, sometimes I thought he was short in the mind, but after seeing his plans work so efficiently, I ate my own words."

"You actually know my old man? I can hardly remember anything about him."

"I do, and so does everyone else residing inside this piece of weaponry, but now's not the time to sit around a campfire and share stories. Your father somehow forsaw this whole ordeal, hell if I'll ever know how he did, and he had each of us place a piece of ourselves into this weapon. Now, we will see if we have a worthy inheritor to his will." Opening the book, the pages fluttered wildly as wind mana began collecting onto it.

"Conditions are about to get windy!"

**Outside the Gauntlet**

"Hm? What's this?" A ghost clothed in a green jacket, finding the fallen Shatter Gauntlet on the ground, picked it up. "Very odd thing to leave lying around. Did Lord Laharl lose this?" A shadow fell over him. "Ah, speak of the devil himself." Speaking of which...

Laharl, much like his cohort Etna, had shot up over the past 450 years. The once napoleonic Overlord now towered over most of his vassals, regaining the height stolen by Baal centuries ago, and the much awaited growth of his wings added to his already behemoth figure. He also had switched out his shorts for a longer pair of grey pants, and followed up on that with a new pair of jet black shoes and an open jacket that, much to his chagrin, looked highly similar to the one the Dark Adonis, better known as Mid-Boss, once wore. His golden wrist bracelets and his scarf were the only things that seemed to survive his sudden growth from shrimp to giant.

"What did you find this time, Ghoss?" Laharl noticed his longtime vassal holding the gauntlet.

"Haven't got a clue. It was just lying here when I ran across it. Maybe you can make heads or tails of it." The ghost handed it over to the Overlord.

"Weirdest fist weapon I've ever seen. I doubt I can get any use out of this thing." '_Wonder how much RosenQueen'll offer up for it_.'

**Inside the Shatter Gauntlet... **

Nelius dodged between blasts of wind, hoping to see some kind of weakness in Rudra's form. He'd already had a few scars running down his right arm from where a few smaller attacks had hit.

"Come now, I expect better of you." Rudra taunted. Nelius tried getting in close to attack, but all the wind Mage did was simply float out of the way and throw another blast, if he didn't bring up a barrier to stop him. He even attempted to shoot the wizard, but most of his shots just got deflected back at him.

'_Damn, he's an annoying old fart, and those gusts aren't making things any easier. How do I... !!_' Dodging another blast of wind, an idea formed in his mind as he looked to his right hand, where he saw the other gauntlet he'd purchased back on Brad's Netherworld. '_All right, it stayed with me. Let's see if this idea will work_.' Dashing forward, he made to lunge at Rudra, before his form turned a hazy violet. Several more hazy copies of Nelius appeared in a conical shape. '_Bingo! This fight's over._'

"The Tiger Charge, second form, is that it?" Rudra could see through this. '_You should've known better than this. I already know where you'll end up... here!_' Turning around, he fired a column of wind, but nothing happened. "Now what in the... Where'd he go?" Seeing his own shadow grow in size, the wind mage looked upward, only to get a faceful of Nelius' fist. The force of the attack sent him skidding on his head, right into a bookshelf, which then collapsed on top of him. All that could be seen of him was his feet.

"You all right?" Nelius cautiously approached. Even though they were technically still fighting, he couldn't help but wonder about the state of the elderly demon. He forgot for a moment that he'd been fighting against a mage, and an old one at that. Not exactly what you'd call sturdy.

"You win..." Was the only response Nelius got before he found himself standing back in the arena again, though the green pillar had faded away. "Well, here's a little present from me." Looking at his left arm, Nelius saw the replica of the weapon he was inside of, but at the side of the wrist, a green node on the wrist lit up. "Here is proof of your victory, and the power to use wind mana to a new extent. How you make use of it is up to you."

"One down, three to go." He surveyed his remaining choices. "Where shall I go next? Eenie Meenie Mieny... wait, that won't work."

**End of Chapter Thirteen**

Until Next Chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	15. Chapter 14

My Calling: Second Cycle  
Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 14: The Final Countdown

Having chosen to take the red pillar to the next area, Nelius could immediately feel the immense heat. The place resembled some type of colosseum or battle arena, except that the outer edges of the ring were engulfed by lava so pure and reflective. It wasn't quite the Blazing Core or the Sea of Gehenna, but you get the idea.

"So, I see you took out my younger brother." Nelius turned around to watch as a suit of armor which had a blade in its right hand floated up from the lava, a flame where the head should be. "Then again, Rudra was never one who would face the enemy directly. I never did have the patience to understand why mages do what they do."

"And who am I addressing this time?"

"They call me Agni of the Flames; I'm Rudra's older brother." He placed the business end of the blade into the ground. "I'm glad you managed to make it here. Now we can begin."

**Back with Laharl**

"She's still not back yet?!" Laharl's voice thundered through the hall.

"Well, ever since the news that Seraph Lamington fell ill, she's been quite distraught, Lord Laharl." The Dimensional Gatekeeper told him. Even while having to deal with him, she still kept a calm demeanor all around. "Even though she lives here now, she still does have family up there, or did you forget that already?"

"It's been a damn month, for Magog's sake! I mean, come on!!"

"Ohh, what's the matter, Prince? Upset that someone else is getting Flonne's attention instead of you?" Three guesses who this is..

"Can it, Etna." He went to level a threat at her, but her attention was elsewhere.

"Hey, Prince, where'd you find that?"

"Dunno. Ghoss found it. You know whose this is?"

"Yeah, but the owner disappeared some time after I went to wake you up. He might come back for it, though. I'll be more than happy to take that off your hands."

**Back to the battle**

Sword clashed against gauntlet as the second bout inside the Shatter Gauntlet was underway. The two seemed to be evenly matched, as neither one had managed to land a direct blow upon each other. Agni's sword gave him reach, whereas Nelius' unarmored lithe body gave him the speed necessary to dodge and weave through Agni's offense.

'_Now I really wish I'd thought to grab that armor Brad gave me_.' Nelius barely dodged underneath another sword swing. '_Some extra protection would really help right about now_.'

"Time to raise the stakes." Raising his blade upward, two thick tendrils of lava began rising from the arena boundaries, and the temperature began rising again, creating a painful sensation in Nelius' gauntlets.

'_Damn him! Using the temperature to heat up the metal in my weapons, sneaky bastard. No wonder my father... wherever the hell he is... chose him to be part of the team_.' Nelius quickly waved his arms about, trying to cool them down. Inadvertently, a blast of wind shot out from his waving path, cleanly slicing through two stone pillars on the opposite edges of the area. "Whoa... that's new." He didn't have too much time to dwell on his newfound power, as Agni was already bearing down on him.

'_He's a quick learner_...' Agni slammed his blade downward as Nelius moved out of the way again. '_Unfortunately, it's not quick enough in this situation. Time to coerce him_.' Holding his blade to his right side, the Armor Knight summoned another two pillars of lava, and by switching the blade's position to his left side, commanded all four pillars to crash into himself.

"What the hell?!" Nelius watched as the lava seemed to take a solid body to hold the armor, and the flame atop the head began roaring, almost as if it lived. The blade glowed a red color and burst into flames. "Hell must be frozen over compared to right now." He felt himself fighting for a cooling breath as the area temperature just refused to lower.

"Consider yourself honored to see Megiddo Iblis, my blaze body form. I haven't had fun like this in a long time. Prepare yourself!!" He rushed forward, his blade poised for an overhead strike. Nelius barely managed to get out of harm's way, but a piece of scattering debris from the blade's much stronger strike flew outward, searing the young man along his left side.

"Agh, son of a bitch!" Forced to hold his burned side with his right hand, he saw Agni getting ready to strike again. "Shit... there's gotta be a way... to shut those flames of his down.. agh, but what can wind alone do?" Seeing the blade coming from his right side, Nelius broke away... revealing his answer. Finding himself on the other side of the arena in a flash, he saw the flame on Agni's head flickering dangerously. '_Wait a minute... It's a risky idea, but anything at this point is worth a try_.'

"Running will do you no good, Nelius." Agni was already on his way to attack. "There's nowhere else for you to go!"

"Actually, it'll do me a world of good!" Feeling the wind element channel into his legs, he dashed past Agni, and began to run circles around the Armor Knight.

"What in blazes?!" Agni just watched as the young demon ran circles around him. "What are you doing?"

"Don't blink, otherwise you'll miss this!" Now at the peak of speed, he quickly broke off, infused more wind energy into his left hand, and, pouring everything he had left into this attack, launched himself toward the fire infused Armor Knight, shattering him with one well-placed punch. All that remained was the upper half of the armor, and it was cracked dangerously. About three seconds later, he found himself shaking his hand, trying to rid it of the searing pain. Hey, demon or not, trying to punch magmatic rock at that speed will sting like a bitch.

"Owww... a commendable effort on your part. You win." Nelius found himself back in the central arena again, and a red node lit up on his gauntlet. "Take this fire, and burn away all who would oppose you."

"Two down, two to go...what the?" The pillar that had been a yellow color had changed to a light purple, almost pink color. "There's some unfortunate implications."

**Phantom Cat Mk. 2**

"You really know how to get yourself into a mess, don't you?" The one who appeared to be a humanoid version of Brad just sighed. Having made it onto the Phantom Cat after gaining easy clearance, he didn't have to look far in order to find Brad.

Speaking of which, somebody got to him first. He had two black eyes, several patches of fur forcibly ripped off, half of his right ear bitten off, a few bones bending in directions previously thought impossible... and that was just counting the visible injuries.

"Geez, Brad, who'd you piss off this time?" Geez, HellStar, take a wild guess; yours is as good as anyone else's right now.

"I feel more like your babysitter than I do your employer. What am I to do with you now?"

"Well, better take him to the medical bay. Juno's gonna have a field day with him."

"True. We better figure out who did this as well."

**Area point 3**

"Brrr! Outta Salamander's Breath and into the Lunar Snowfield!" Upon choosing the blue light, Nelius was transported to a snowy area. "If I'd known I was getting another look at the Frozen River, I would've dressed accordingly."

"With that kind of attitude, it's honestly surprising that you've defeated the Brothers of Fire and Wind." A female's voice, cold and biting as the very area surrounding him, resounded. Nelius looked up ahead to see a snow flurry fly past him, and when it settled, he found a blue-clad Kunoichi staring in his general direction. "For someone who has the remains of the tandem seal's magic on his body, you've certainly shown more progress than what I'd initially guessed. I guess it wasn't as potent as claimed."

"Tandem Seal? You mean you know of that weird inked seal that was on my hand?"

"That one was the former identification mark, now the slave to the master, merely there to ensure the transportation of power. The master seal is inside of you, and is being used to keep your latent strength right out of your reach."

"You mean to tell me my former boss was keeping me cooped up in there just to suppress me? That little bitch! I'll rip her head off and--!"

"There's more to it than that. I'll tell you everything else... if you'll amuse me for a while. Building up and destroying snowmen gets old real fast." She prepared a handful of thick, icy throwing knives from out of nowhere. "I am Setsuka, Snow Flower. Don't expect me to go easy on you, just because you're the son of my boss."

"Neither Rudra nor Agni went easy; why expect different from you?" Setskua made the first move, speeding in and intending to gut him with one of her knives. Nelius brought his hand down, grabbing the knife and twisting it away. Tossing it out of her reach, he aimed his fist toward her face. Avoiding this one, she went to counter with her own blow, but a well-placed elbow strike stopped that plan.

'_Simply amazing._' Setsuka thought as she quickly blocked another punch from Nelius. '_His focus... it's almost as if I'm fighting against his mother again. I can see it in his...!_' That thought, however, proved to be a distraction, as one of her own knives came flying back at her, cutting her on the left cheek. '_When did he get the chance to.._' She managed to move just in time to dodge a blast of wind that Nelius had fired off.

He was prepared to fire again, when he noticed that she'd stopped in the middle of their battle.

'_What shenanigan has she got planned?_'

**Medical Bay**

A patched up Brad sat in the medical room.

"All I remember is wanting to get off of Laharl's Netherworld as fast as I could, then the next thing I know I'm getting mauled for no...!" Before he could continue his tirade, his eyes glazed over as he slumped onto the floor, letting off a light snore. Juno, the Tailring in charge of the medical bay, stood behind him, a syringe in her paw. If you happened to take notice, she was wearing a hood over her head, almost as if there was something she wanted to hide.... or if she simply felt like it.

"You know, that really wasn't all that necessary, Juno." The humanoid look-a-like of Brad stated.

"I know, it's just that I haven't had a chance to do that to him in a while. I was just waiting for the right moment." She beamed, causing him to sweatdrop.

"Now we'll have to wait to figure out who did this to him."

"Well, it's not that difficult. There's only three others aboard this ship aside from you and Hellstar who have enough punch to do this. Just round them up and grill 'em for information."

"Good point. I'll get started, then."

**Back to the fight**

'_What's going on?_' He noticed that Setsuka had simply held out one hand, and with that, the snowfall began letting up, until it stopped completely. Though he was possibly being paranoid, something told him to keep on his guard, but this was becoming a difficult task due to the coldness. Instead of the heavy air from Agni's room placing a burden on his breathing, this time it was due to the thin, chilly air here in Setsuka's room. '_She has something planned... question is, what is it?_' Subconsciously, he reached over and began tinkering with the wrist band on his gauntlet, unknowningly activating both the wind and fire nodes. When her hands became filled with even more of the icy daggers, he realized it. '_Get rid of the sight interference, battle it out right now_.'

Setsuka came in close, intending to slash at him with one of her daggers. Nelius dodged backwards, aiming a kick toward the side of her head. She jumped back, tossing even more knives and watching as he slammed his hands onto the snowy ground, whipping up a windy barrier to deflect the knives. On and on, the young demon and the Kunoichi battled it out, now fully aware of each one's intended actions. Unbeknowest to either of them, they had a visitor watching their battle.

"So, that's our captain's son? Hm, he's not all that bad looking." A faint giggle eminated from the one watching the battle. "He'll have only me to visit after Setsky's done with him..." Another giggle. "Ooh, the things I can imagine doing with him."

Nelius thrusted his left hand toward the incoming daggers and lifted it up, creating a counteractive column of heated air that stopped the weapons, causing them to clatter to the snowy ground. Undaunted, the icy Kunoichi threw another dagger, this one aimed right for his chest. Quickly raising his hand to knock the offending projectile away, he dashed in, his fist covered in red flames.

'_That glaze in his eyes..._' That had been Setsuka's mistake. Though she managed to recover and tried to fight back, her momentary distraction gave him all the opportunity to slam a fiery fist dead center into her chest. Stunned by the blow, he wasted no time in firing a blast of wind at her, but since it had combined with the fire power he'd gained from Agni, he ended blasting her with a literal firestorm. The combined strength of wind and flame sent her flying back, eventually skidding across the ice.

"Holy shit!" Now realizing what he'd just done, he made to go over and help her back up, but she raised a hand, telling him to stop. "You all right?"

"A deal is a deal, Nelius. Though unexpected, you won, and as I promised...." Managing a standing position, she continued. "The origins of the tandem seal actually come from a different demon world, one that's been outside of our current knowledge. In addition to capping off the victim's strength at any point the caster wishes, it also saps mana energy and levels from the victim to the caster once the victim's strength reaches that cap. By destroying the transportation seal, your strength is yours once again. From what I remember, your mother also came from a world much like it."

"So, you do know a bit more about them."

"I should. I was one of your mother's closest confidants before she moved and I ended up joining your father's team. Either way, you've one last person to meet." With one more flash of light, Nelius was back in the central area, and as the blue pillar of light died off, a similarly colored node lit up on his gauntlet. "With your victory, water and ice are yours to do with as you see fit. Freeze away anyone who interferes."

"That's three down..." He looked to the final pillar, a strange feeling of dread weighing his stomach down. "Something tells me this isn't going to be the most pleasant of experiences." Shaking off the feeling, he stepped into it, ending up in a strange room that looked more akin to a girl's bedroom rather than a place to do battle. "How the hell did I figure this was gonna happen? I better turn around and leave before I end up giving someone the wrong idea."

"Don't worry, I'm a more open-minded person than my compatriots." A soft, almost sensual voice called out from right behind him. He turned around to see who owned this particular room. "Hi there."

Just like Esara, this person was a succubus, though there were a few differences. First off, her hair, long and red, flowed down her front, covering up whatever else her attire, or lack there of, didn't. Second, she appeared to have a completely human appearance, right down to the rounded ears and lack of horns and a tail. Third, her eyes, a rich purple, seemed to just draw someone in. Fourth... did she just teleport right next to him?

"Never thought I'd have the chance to meet the son of our captain." She smiled a toothy but sincere grin, which slightly alleviated Nelius of the feeling that she'd try something funny. That feeling quickly returned when her eyes began roving over his body. "Though, I must say, it's a real shame that seal's worked a little too well. I'm sure you'd be quite the looker right now." She hovered over to her bed, taking a seat. She patted the extra space next to her, motioning for him to sit down next to her. "I'll bet you've a lot of questions for me."

"Most of them would end in '_How do I get the hell out of here?_'" Nelius remained standing in his current spot.

"I'd be more than willing to tell you... if you come over here and take a seat." He just sighed and sat down next to her, defeated. Almost instantly, she scooted closer to him. "It's been a long time since I had company from outside. It gets damn boring in here."

"What about Agni?"

"Never really says anything. He's way too uptight."

"Rudra?"

"Never looks at my face, if you get the meaning. Perverted old man."

"Setsuka?"

"Agni's female clone. Kid probably doesn't even know how to loosen up any." She sighed this time, leaning her head on Nelius' shoulder.

'_What the... what's she up to?_' Most guys would kill to have a hot woman leaning against him, but Nelius was just wanting to figure out more about himself. I'm as sure as anyone else that having an insanely hot chick leaning again you won't help that much.

"You know, I'm rather envious of you. You have so many worlds outside of this gauntlet to explore, while I'm stuck here."

"I could only wish it was as glorious as you make it sound. I just found out that my former boss placed a mana seal on my body, stealing my own power and adding it to her own. It's only a matter of time before she'd find out I'm gone, and then she'd try to recapture me and re-cast both seals."

"I thought you got rid of it?"

"It was only the transportation seal. The real seal's still working its magic, and if Sirea manages to reinforce it, the magic would come back in full force, and I'd end up back at square one all over again." He hated the thought of being in such a predicament. "She gets full benefits without having to do anything."

"Well, I think there's a way to nullify and remove the seal from your body. I remember your father talking about it sometime ago. He said there was a mana type that held a particular power, one that disrupts and stops others. Aside from that, it can pull off some pretty nifty tricks."

"Well, what is this type of mana, and where would I be able to find it?"

"The name escapes me, but the mana itself within us both. On the unfortunate note, your mana store is blocked off by that damn seal."

"Okay, so how do we unseal my mana energy?"

"The only way we can; use a stronger, unblocked source to break it." Willing up her store of mana, she placed one hand behind his head and, bringing herself closer-- "Hold still, sugar. You're gonna like this." --quickly placed a mana-charged kiss on his lips.

**End of Chapter 15**

Until Next Chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


	16. Final Chapter

My Calling: Second Cycle

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'_Thoughts_'

**MAKAI!** Seperates Paragraphs

Finale: As two become one.

Nelius was in quite a daze. I do believe that was the first kiss he ever really had.

"My oh my, I think I overloaded his mind." She just giggled. "Well, I didn't earn the name Nevan the Breaker for nothing." Her body then began to feel weighed down, as though any and all energy remaining had been sucked away.

"Whoah.." Nelius finally snapped out of his '_holy crap that was my first kiss_' daze to see Nevan breathing rather heavily. "You all right?"

"Just exhausted, I'm fine. Well, my role here, though unfortunately short, is finished. Now, there happens to be one last someone who's been waiting a long time to finally meet you. When you leave this room, there will be an elevator that'll take you down to where he resides. He has the answers to everything you've been wanting to know."

With one last flash, and an invite to return in about three or four years, Nelius was back in the central area, and he could feel power flowing through him. Just as Nevan had said, there was a raised platform in the middle of the area to act as the elevator. Wasting no time, he stepped onto the platform, and it began to descend. When it finally stopped about two minutes later, he took a look at the area, then remembering the weird dream he had back on Brad's Netherworld.

'_It's that freaky temple I saw less than a week ago_.' Stepping inside, he saw the more intricate damage prevalent on the walls, floor, celing, and most of the stone pillars that helped to hold the immense structure up. '_Looks like a small scale war happened in here. I don't remember being here... have I?_' At the end of the hall stood a stone mural with the engravings he'd seen in that dream. This time, however, two of the wings on the flying figure had changed to a demonic type, and the pair confronting it were being protected by some kind of spell.

"You've finally come at last. Took your good time getting here." A voice rang out. Damn, did it sound familiar.

"Who the... who's there?" Nelius was on guard. At that moment, a hatch on his gauntlet opened up, revealing the two orbs that brought him into this in the first place. They hovered up, fitting themselves into the mural on the wall: one orb to each of the two figures. Immediately, powerful mana energy began crawling over the mural, until it eventually dissolved, revealing a room beyond.

"Finally, after one-thousand and ninety-five plus days of imprisonment by that bitch, I'm finally able to get up and stretch." The sound of many joints popping echoed through the hall. "Ahh, man it's been forever since I got to do that. Of course, I gotta give credit where it's due, Nelius."

"How did you know who I am?"

"Quite the anxious one, aren't we? If you're want to find out the rest, come on in here." Taking the challenge, he stepped into the room, which was covered in total darkness. "I've been waiting too long for this. Now that you're here, there's one final detail to work out." The room became alight, forcing Nelius to shield his eyes until they adjusted. When they did so, he looked toward the center of the room, where his eyes came across a nearly impossible sight.

Standing there, right on top of some kind of... vault door, was himself. This Nelius, however, was about seven inches taller, had orange eyes, and wild red streaks ran through his hair. Noticibly, his wrists and ankles had cuffs around them, and they were chained to the door.

"It certainly took you nearly forever to get down here. You look rather surprised."

"Hold on one moment. Am I you, or are you me?" This was getting rather strange. "Or is this some sort of mindscrew planned by Queen Bitch?"

"It looks that way, doesn't it?" The older-looking Nelius decided to take a seat. "I suppose the best way to put it is... I represent what you were supposed to become... physically, anyway." Seeing the confused look on Nelius' face, the other continued. "When Sirea conjured up that new power to her seal, to lock away all of her vassals' power so it could be taken from them whenever she felt like it, she unknowingly split our soul into two halves, and she may have done the same to everyone else." Nelius scowled at the thought of his former boss going behind everyone's backs to do this. "Unfortunately for her, a person's soul, regardless of who they are, cannot be simply split into two like that. They will eventually draw toward one another, like the opposite poles of a magnet. She tried to keep me cooped in another item to stop such a draw, but I decided to screw up the bitch's plans, and so I decided to confine myself into this very gauntlet, a testament to our old man's work."

"No wonder she had me under such tight lock and key. This does explain her fanatically possessive behavior."

"And the reason as to why you still look like a shrimp, even after three years." Ignoring the burning glare from his unsealed self, he continued. "It took me damn near forever with these limited resources, but once I regained my ability to act, it was time to set the plan into motion."

"I take you're the one who told our old man's four team members to draw me into this place?"

"You catch on quick. I also had to request some assistance in acquiring the two keys necessary to free me."

"...Those strange orbs I received." Nelius got a nod in confirmation.

"When you got far away enough from from the castle, I felt the hold over the seal begin to weaken slightly. That momentary slip was all I needed to contact the first of the two, the yet to awaken representation of your powers from this realm." The beast that gave Nelius the Black Orb on Sirea's Netherworld then appeared next to the power self.

"I told you that we'd meet again." Yep, still as cheery as ever.

"It was only after you'd removed the identification seal from your hand as you stowed away on Brad's ship that I felt the mana-stealing seal stop functioning, and thus I bided my time, working to contact the representation of your otherworldly power, the one who stole the second key, and personally delivered a special message to Sirea." The young man that had delivered the message to Sirea appeared alongside the beast before both began dispersing into a type of mist. "And, now that you are here, it's time to seal the deal."

"Just what part do I play in this?" The regular Nelius seemed tense. What was his other side planning?

"I'll admit, I was worried that I was going to be stuck in here forever. But, after having witnessed you battle the others upstairs, I realized I was just being paranoid when I heard you speak with Nevan." He relaxed a bit. "As it is, we're one step away from fully undoing all of Queen Bitch's work. I'm sure you know what the last step is."

"I'm aware of that. She's the one who split us in two like this, so now we have to rejoin."

"You just about read my mind, but there's one last hurdle: this seal which helps to seperate us." He pointed downward to the floor as the seal showed itself, looking precisely like the ink tatoo Nelius had gotten rid of, though it showed much wear and tear, unable to fulfill its original function and on the verge of breaking. "Since it was specifically made to keep me cooped up, I'm powerless to do anything to it, but since you're unaffected by this seal, do whatever you can to eliminate it."

"Easier said than done. Last I remember, seals can't be broken so easily." Nelius initially tried smashing his fist against the seal's barrier, but was equally repulsed each time. "Regular physical force isn't working, so we need something stronger." Another attempt, and his answer came in the form of a painful landing on something hard and metallic. Feeling around where he landed, he found the same gun that had saved Brad back before the whole expidition began, now crackling with mana energy. '_It's the same kind that Nevan transferred to me... of course! She told me.._'

Obligatory Flashback

"Well, I think there's a way to nullify and remove the seal from your body. I remember your father talking about it sometime ago. He said there was a mana type that held a particular power, one that disrupts and stops others. Aside from that, it can pull off some pretty nifty tricks."

End Said Flashback

"A kind that can disrupt others. Trial by fire, I guess." Raising the gun upward, he pulled the trigger, releasing a mana-charged bullet that struck the barrier. For a moment, the bullet seemed to meet resistance, until Nelius fired another shot right into the back of the first bullet, shattering the seal and the chains into thousands of rapidly dispersing spell fragments. Thankfully, the sealed self had the sense to get out of the way of the bullets' path.

"Amazing. To think your...no, our mana power could dispell seals." The area began to crackle as the formerly sealed portion of Nelius' soul was finally freed. "I should thank you."

"No, I owe you the thanks. If you hadn't done anything, we'd still be under that bitch's thumb." The room began flickering as it began to crumble. "What now?"

"Simple." The power half began walking toward Nelius, holding out one of his hands toward him. "This room's purpose of holding me has been spent. I'm sure you know what happens next."

"Got it." Nelius, catching on, caught his counterpart's hand, like two friends or brothers, then all went white.

**Laharl's Castle**

Etna was in her room, having freshly gotten out of a much needed shower, running a comb through the lengths of her dark pink hair. The Shatter Gauntlet lay on her desk.

'_First he runs off, now he sends one of his own to come after us..._' She put the comb down and headed over to her closet, where she picked up the Longinus Spear she'd been entrusted with. '_Ah well, I've been in need of a good battle. Maybe I'll thank him later, in my own personal way_.' Mere moments after she left her secret room, a glow eminated from the gauntlet, and, lo and behold, Nelius appeared from it. Yet another three-point landing as he pulled himself up.

"Transport gates must hate me...huh?" Noticing that his voice sounded a bit deeper, he looked into a mirror on his right.

His hair, which was normally a dark brown, now had red shine-streaks to it, though it still concealed his ears (or possible lack thereof). He had also gained some height, but what surprised him the most about the merge with his other self was that his eyes had changed to a neutral orange color. He had become his true self.

"Trippy, I'm finally taller. Oh, here it is... what in the?" Apparently, he wasn't the only one to undergo a transformation.

The Shatter Gauntlet had slimmed down a bit, but at the same time appeared all the more deadly. As he picked it up and reattached it to his left hand, he noticed that the other gauntlet he'd purchased was missing, and in its place was another gauntlet similar to the Shatter Gauntlet, but it looked to be a bit more defensive in comparison.

"Three for one upgrade deal, nice. All right, now to get out of here." He trailed off, feeling something stuck on the side of the left hand gauntlet. Picking it off, he noticed that it was some emerald green stone. '_How very strange, I can feel something pulsating from this stone. Must be the one Etna mentioned whats-her-name, Hanako, finding earlier_.' Simply deciding to take it with him, he began to walk out of the room, only to realize...

"Wait a minute, where the hell am I?" Again, he's lost.

**In another part of the castle..**

Vassals and Prinnies were being tossed around like mere toys as a new assailant continued her rampage throughout the castle for reasons beknowest only to her. This woman was on a mission, and Overlord be damned if anything was gonna stop her.

"Etna! What the hell are you doing?" Laharl was furious. "Why are you just watching? Get her!"

"Eh, no worries, Prince." Etna just watched, leaning against the Longinus as more vassals went flying through the air. "She can't keep that pace up forever. Besides, I don't see you risking your ass to save your place either."

"That's it? You're just going to watch as she destroys everything? What kind of vassal are you?"

"Simple. The smart kind." Seeing that this was going nowhere, Laharl decided to just jump into the fray himself. "Gets him off his lazy ass every time." She grinned. "At least he finally overcame that weakness to sexy bodies ... I wonder who I have to thank for that?" She took a look towards the roof of the castle.

**Back with Nelius... **

"What's going on? Laharl having one of his challenges again?" He raced down the halls of the castle, hearing the sounds growing louder as he approached. "Sounds like someone got royally pissed." The stone he found began pulsating again as one of the copy Etnas came nearby.

"Man, something got under her fur."

"Who's mad at who this time?"

"Looks like another Nekomata. Dunno how she got in, but she'd creating a ruckus."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, some Nekomata got into the castle, and now she's going apeshit."

Nelius took off toward the fight, and the stone began pulsing even further, though he was oblivious to this. '_Is Radara behind this? I'd never thought of her as the kind who'd..._' As he rounded the corner toward the Audience Hall, he felt as though something had yanked him back by the arm. Looking behind him revealed nobody, but he noticed that his hand that was carrying the stone had stopped. "Oh Hell!" He knew what was coming next.

**In the ship... **

"Ohhh, wha 'appened?" Brad finally woke up. "Hey, did we make it to our next stop?"

"Nope. We're just outside Laharl's again." Juno calmly replied as she filled another syringe. Predictably, he began bugging out again.

"H-how'd we end up back there again?"

"Will you chill out?" In a corner of the room stood the humanoid look-alike of Brad. "Turns out that after you got pummeled to near death, one of your own hijacked the ship's controls and led us back here. Once we landed, she jumped out of the ship and raced into the castle."

"And why didn't you do anything?"

"It wasn't really my business to begin with, and you really need to grow a pair of... what in the name of?" He felt a large surge in magical power.

"Hey, you've got to take a look at this!" Tikal, the second in command, had hijacked the screen in the medical bay, showing a quick broadcast of Laharl's castle. From one of the sections of the castle, a ball of greenish energy quickly flew towards the sky, which began interfering with the transmission, eventually cutting off the broadcast.

"Wha--how?" Brad was rather speechless. "The systems aboard the ship were already far ahead of their time, how could they get cut off?"

"I could only wonder what could generate that much power. It looked like a trans-dimensional warp."

**Back at the battle sight...or, what's left of it... **

The fighting just ceased all together as the figure of Nelius (though nobody at the time knew it was him) became encased in an energy sphere, which floated through the roof and outside.

"Uh oh." The copy Etnas, who'd been enjoying the battle up to that point, began dissolving from existence, one after another until only the black Nekomata was left.

"So much for my that plan." She simply got up and left. "Guess I'll have to finish everything else on my own."

**Dimension Transport Space**

Nelius immediately remembered this sensation. Somehow, that stone had enough power to tear open a dimensional gate and sucked him into it.

'_It's my 12th birthday all over again!_' He could feel his body flying around as if he'd been strapped to a rocket powered roller coaster going at least 373 times the speed of sound (and yes, that speed is possible). When he finally found himself coming to a complete stop, he landed face first on solid dirt. Thankfully that wasn't sand, otherwise his face would've been eroded right off.

Meanwhile, a pair of robotic eyes opened up. Data quickly began flashing across them.

"Power flare dispersion detected.... power safely dispersed. Continue scan for extermination targets."

"Now stuck in a brand new land, can Nelius overcome the new dangers?"

"Wait, what?"

"Even with his newfound strength, will it be enough to surpass the new hurdles?"

"Isn't it a little late to be doing this stunt?"

"Oh, it's been a long time. Where's your little friend?"

"Ergh, you gotta bug me again? At least now you can't taunt me about that anymore."

"This isn't even making any sense."

"Next on Inter-dimensional Demon Man, Nelius.. Episode 2: The Daredevil cometh! It's gonna be a wild ride."

"That's not even the right title.... I give up."

"Really, then can I have the main character position?"

"No way. Someone else has that on reserve."

**End of the story**

Until the next story,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough


End file.
